Stanford gymnastics coach Thom Glielmi, at the 2022 World Championship, was approached by a bunch of young fans. They had an inquiry: Where was Ian Gunther, although he wasn’t even at the competition! The coach, much to his disbelief, responded: “Ian? You want to see Ian?” Well, thanks to social media, the Westside High School graduate became a household name. It all started when a coupon, promoting a local gym as a party host, arrived at the mailbox of his home in Westside. Gunther had his fifth birthday party there and found himself enrolled in the classes days later. Who knew, at the time, lil’ Ian would go on to become a 4x NCAA champion!
Hard to ignore the impact social media has these days! What started as a pet project, mostly out of boredom during the COVID-19 pandemic which his teammates may have found “cringey,” he now has over a million TikTok and 500,000+ Instagram followers. It wasn’t long before fans, affectionately dubbed “groupies,” would pour in just to support him. This one family, in fact, drove for four hours from Indiana to a Chicago event just to support him! But all good things must come to its inevitable end but Ian remains hopeful about his future.
Hard to ignore the impact social media has these days! What started as a pet project, mostly out of boredom during the COVID-19 pandemic which his teammates may have found “cringey,” he now has over a million TikTok and 500,000+ Instagram followers. It wasn’t long before fans, affectionately dubbed “groupies,” would pour in just to support him. This one family, in fact, drove for four hours from Indiana to a Chicago event just to support him! But all good things must come to its inevitable end but Ian remains hopeful about his future.
Although the retirement announcement came just hours ago, the 25-year-old, whether he made the U.S. team or not, had already made up his mind prior to the Paris Olympics. Kicking off his final elite season at the Winter Cup in February and finishing just behind Senior Taylor Burkhart in second with a final score of 27.183 with the Czech Republic’s Vanessa Masova at the 2024 Sokol Grand Prix, the Houston native and one of the most popular athletes in the sport is finally hanging up his grips. He noted on IG, “This isn’t a goodbye, but a hello ❤️
Simone Biles’ teammates join gymnastics community to pay tribute to Ian Gunther
In the comment box, Khoi Young put his heartfelt words, “Gonna miss you man 😢.” At Stanford, both gymnasts had some good times. And it was during the days when Gunther had yet to gain a global identity. Back then, he was a young athlete from Houston who was trying to make a name in men’s gymnastics.
For Ellie Black, Ian Gunther poses an ‘inspiration.’ The four-time Olympian penned in the comment box, “Congrats Ian! An inspiration to us all ❤️ Can’t wait for the continued memories.” The ‘memories’ may have signified all those moments from the GOAT tour when she, Simone Biles, and many others matched their moves with Gunther on the stage and in the practice room. Another Olympian and GOAT member, Jade Carrey, dropped her message for a fellow gymnast on an emotional day.
Carrey wrote that and it is “stay strong you awesome Ian.” Once more the GOAT connection was used to bring the Olympic champion and Gunther close together. Before the US Olympic gymnastics trials this year, he set things straight. He planned on calling the Winter Cup his final elite competition and had plans on retiring in the Olympic cycle. The decision was reached not to allow him to compete ever again in the Paris Olympics.
While never backing down from his commitment, Gunther chose to end the year and his last competitive performance being at Sokol Grand Prix 2024 where he was placed second along with Denelle Pedrick.
Even precious musician, Kayla DiCello also followed in joining in to pay tribute to Gunther writing, “Proud of you!!” in the comment section. But what about the contribution he was making to the gymnastics for the men? Surely one of the fans was reminiscing over all that on the day.