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Oak Ridge teen earns silver, gold in gymnastics competitions

benjamin pounds, oakridger
·1 min read
Oak Ridge resident Xavier Harper, left, received silver while Bilal Gurbanov received first and Amare Walker received third.
Oak Ridge resident Xavier Harper, left, received silver while Bilal Gurbanov received first and Amare Walker received third.
Xavier Harper.
Xavier Harper.

Oak Ridge resident Xavier Harper brought home three gold medals from USA Gymnastics National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

He was also named to both trampoline and tumbling Junior National teams. He is 14 and will start as a freshman at Oak Ridge High School soon.

Xavier Harper came home with three gold medals from USAG National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. He was also named to both trampoline and tumbling Junior National teams.
Xavier Harper came home with three gold medals from USAG National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. He was also named to both trampoline and tumbling Junior National teams.

"He represents Oak Ridge well always," his mother Dionne Harper tweeted.

Earlier, he won second in the 2022 AERE Trampoline Cup's tumbling finals in Rimini, Italy on May 25.

Another American, Amare Walker of Watchburg, New Jersey, got bronze in that competition, while Azerbaijan's Bilal Gurbanov received the gold.

This isn't Harper's first international competition. Earlier, he took home a silver medal in tumbling at the 2021 Trampoline Gymnastics World Age Group Competitions in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Xavier Harper came home with three gold medals from USAG National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. He was also named to both trampoline and tumbling Junior National teams.
Xavier Harper came home with three gold medals from USAG National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. He was also named to both trampoline and tumbling Junior National teams.
Xavier Harper came home with three gold medals from USAG National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. He was also named to both trampoline and tumbling Junior National teams.
Xavier Harper came home with three gold medals from USAG National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. He was also named to both trampoline and tumbling Junior National teams.
Xavier Harper came home with three gold medals from USAG National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. He was also named to both trampoline and tumbling Junior National teams.
Xavier Harper came home with three gold medals from USAG National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. He was also named to both trampoline and tumbling Junior National teams.

While Harper told The Oak Ridger he wants to go to medical school and become a doctor, he's also interested in the Olympics.

In a previous interview, Xavier Harper said his mother signed him up for preschool gymnastic classes when he was three. He moved to private lessons between the ages of four and six and then joined Premiere Athletics in Knoxville for trampoline and tumbling training. His coach is Eric Thomas.

Ben Pounds is a staff reporter for The Oak Ridger. Call him at (865) 441-2317, follow him on Twitter @Bpoundsjournal and email him at bpounds@oakridger.com.

Trampoline athlete Xavier Harper
Trampoline athlete Xavier Harper

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Oak Ridge teen earns silver, gold in gymnastics competitions