Meet The Class Of 2025! 50 Most Artistic Issue Starring Tiana Sumanasekera!

10 Oct Meet The Class Of 2025! 50 Most Artistic Issue Starring Tiana Sumanasekera!

Posted at 12:26h in 2025 Xfinity U.S. Championships, Issue Previews, News & Features by Christy Sandmaier 0 Comments

By Christy Sandmaier

Vice President & Co-Publisher

Features Sneak Peek!

Our October/November Issue of Inside Gymnastics magazine features our annual 50 Most Artistic List!

Meet the Class of 2025, along with a special feature on our 2025 Cover Star and new UCLA Bruin, Tiana Sumanasekera! The special collectors’ issue features a photo collage of current and future stars from around the globe with photography provided by Lloyd Smith, Ricardo Bufolin, and Simone Ferraro. The issue also includes a feature on NAIGC superwoman Angela Fuller, columns by Shannon Miller and John Roethlisberger, Inside Buzz, People, Places and Faces, Chalking Up, and so much more!

When Tiana Sumanasekera took the floor at the 2025 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships, it was as if an entire curtain was rising around the arena. The stage was hers, the crowd on the edge of their seats waiting for what wasn’t just a floor routine, but a performance. Long known for her artistry on floor and beam, Tiana is one of those athletes who is able to mesmerize as much as she as is able capture your heart each and every time she steps on the gymnastics stage. Her picture-perfect double layout to immediate split leap is the essence of what women’s artistic gymnastics should be—graceful, athletic, controlled, easy—and she seamlessly blends her choreography with exquisite tumbling.

An artist at heart. A 2024 Olympic alternate, Tiana’s floor routine instantly became a fan-favorite. And not only a fan favorite, but a personal favorite of hers. She decided to keep the self-choreographed routine for the 2025 season, and her deep connection to the piece remains evident each time she performs. Choreography has always been a passion she told us, and she started choreographing her own routines when she was a Level 8 gymnast. “When I started gymnastics, I was doing it purely out of passion,” she said. “I wanted to be as true to myself as possible. Starting Elite, I knew I wanted to be myself and be recognized for being authentic to my true self. I’ve always loved dancing, and I always had so much energy and so much passion for dance. So, I knew that I wanted to choreograph my routines.”

Her passion truly translates across the arena, showcasing a special affinity for her Sri Lankan heritage. “I wanted to perform in the most authentic way in front of a crowd. This is the most special and magical routine that I’ve ever had and I just absolutely love performing it.” Now in Westwood for her freshman season,

Tiana is tailor-made to be a Bruin, where once again, we’re sure to see the performer and the true Tiana emerge even more as a studen-tathlete, and artist. She knows exactly who she is on and off the floor, and is ready to showcase her talents at UCLA, with a goal to return to the Elite stage next year. With her passion for authenticity perfectly present in her sport, Tiana Sumanasekera is, without a doubt, our unanimous choice for the 50 Most Artistic Class of 2025 cover.

USA, ApFinals, Artistic Gymnastics, Aug 3

The Lineup

50 Most Artistic Class of 2025!

BY CHRISTY SANDMAIER & NATE SALSMAN

As we commemorate an epic 2025 that included historic achievements and jubilant celebratory moments, the team at Inside Gymnastics assembled our list of those athletes we feel best exemplify the essence of artistic gymnastics in our 50 Most Artistic, Class of 2025 feature!

Purpose Over Podium, NAIGC Gymnastics Omnithon Superwoman Angela Fuller Inspired By Chellsie Memmel

BY CHRISTY SANDMAIER

Angela Fuller was once an inspiring national championship competitor with Olympic dreams. Today, she’s (re)building her own career at the age of 45 and checking off a new list of exciting goals!