An Unexpected Return, Amari Celestine Sets Sights On LA 2028

An Unexpected Return 

Missouri gymnast Amari Celestine has cemented herself as a Mizzou gymnastics legend. During her time competing for Mizzou, she broke multiple records and was a major factor in the historic accomplishments her team set, including a third place finish at the NCAA National Championships in 2025, the highest placement ever for Mizzou. Celestine became the first Missouri gymnast since 1999 to set five-straight bars scores of 9.900 or better, was the NCAA vault runner up in 2022, and led the Tigers to the NCAA National Championships in 2022 and 2025—these are just SOME of her incredible accomplishments. After Celestine completed her final floor routine at the NCAA National Championships in April, the entire gymnastics community expected this to be her last competitive routine. Celestine also expected this to be the end of career. 

Following the 2025 NCAA season, Celestine retired from gymnastics with no plans to continue competing. It wasn’t until she was approached by coaches at a gymnastics camp that the idea to train for the LA 2028 Olympics occurred to her. At first, Celestine took the idea as a joke, but the coaches at the camp reinforced their seriousness with the idea and their confidence in her made her decision simple. 

“I started training the following Tuesday after the camp. That was the end of August, and I’ve been training since then. It’s been a lot of fun,” Celestine said. 

Celestine took the summer off, which gave her time to let her body rest and recover after a long college career. Now she is back in the same gym she trained in growing up under coach Cliff Parks. When she returned to training in August, muscle memory helped her regain her skills quickly and begin the process of learning new skills. Some of the new skills she is working on include: a Yurchenko double twist on vault, a new vault entry, double-double, and a double layout on floor. 

Unique about Celestine’s situation is that this will be her Elite gymnastics debut. As a teenager she planned on taking the Elite path towards the Tokyo Olympics, but decided to shift her focus to college gymnastics. Celestine will focus primarily on vault and floor in the lead up to LA 2028 knowing that those are her strengths and where she feels she could best help Team USA.

Family Affair 

Celestine has always held a tight bond with her entire family. Every family member has been in her corner supporting her through every step of her gymnastics career. Her brother Artyon Celestine has been her longtime choreographer through her college career and will continue to choreograph her Elite floor routines. Artyon was the first member of the family to hear about the exciting news, but he made sure Amari knew what she was getting into. 

“I kid you not my brother, if nobody else gets on me, Artyon was like, ‘you know you’re gonna need more than just the 1.5 on vault?’ You know you’re gonna have to up your game a little bit, right? He made sure he checked me before,” Celestine said with a laugh. 

Celestine typically brings a certain level of spunk and pizzazz into her floor routines that is sometimes rare in the world of Elite gymnastics. She hopes that her routines can stand out for this reason. 

“I really just want to be different along that basis. I want a lot of instruments playing, a lot of drumming,” she said. “I’m still getting a feel for what I want, but we have the music being cut, so I’m hoping it fits my vision.”

Celestine once again feels the support of her family as she embarks on this new journey. Her mom and dad could not contain her excitement, and if she is competing in LA, there will have to be an entire section reserved for the Celestine family. 

“There’s gonna have to be a lot of yellow caution tape, a lot of jackets saving seats. It’s gonna be ridiculous.” 

Celestine was born and raised in California, and returned to California after college. Competing in an Olympics in her home state would be a dream come true. 

“Being able to compete and being close to home, I don’t feel like I can even put that into words, because of how special it is to my heart, it’s amazing at the fact that when I was younger, I thought I was going to Tokyo and now transfer LA 28 I’m like, wow, this is surreal. My friends are talking about, it’s so much more meaningful for me, because I know that the support system I have will be in attendance when I get there, and I’m going to feel all the love from various aspects of the country, various aspects of the world. I am so stoked,” Celestine said. 

Her Mizzou gymnastics family will also be right in her corner as her journey begins. When Celestine left Missouri, her intentions for her future were completely different. She originally intended to retire from gymnastics and begin grad school. This made her slightly nervous to tell her former coaches teammates about her change of heart. 

“They said, ‘wait, I’m sorry. Back up a second. So no grad school and now it’s law school, and you’re going back to gymnastics.’ So Amari, what are you doing? I was like, No, I’m a planner. I’ve conducted a plan.”

Nonetheless the Missouri community is ready to cheer her on every step of the way. Over the last 10 years, Elite gymnastics has seen a shift in the longevity of athletes careers. Gymnasts such as Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, Leanne Wong, Ellie Black (CAN), Oksana Chusovitina (UZB), and Japan’s newly-crowned 2025 World Champion on floor, Aiko Sugihara, have helped women Elite gymnasts realize that they can compete well into their twenties and still be successful. At the 2024 Olympics, the All-Around medalists—Biles, Rebeca Andrade (BRA), and Suni Lee— were all above the age of 20. Celestine feels that now is the perfect time to compete in Elite gymnastics. 

“I’m only this young once,” Celestine said. “I only get to have this body to do the sport I love to do once. My age was closing as far as being healthy and having all of my appendages attached to my body still! After I did finish my collegiate career, I didn’t feel like I was done. I wanted to be done. But I didn’t feel like, mentally I was done with gymnastics. I was in kind of like a weird mode of missing it and still wishing I had a fifth year to take.”

Keeping Busy

While gymnastics may be Celestine’s top priority, she certainly keeps her schedule jam-packed. Currently she is working for a marketing firm in downtown LA, with the goal of becoming a football sports agent in the future. She is also studying for the LSAT to get into law school next fall. Celestine plans on making her Elite debut in February of 2026 with a starting goal of staying present in each moment.

“I’m training for 2028 but there are so many steps that I get to take before I even get there and I want to stay present in the moment,” Celestine said. “I always like to play above the bar, so being able to stay present where my feet are and celebrating the small wins is something that I’m really focused on. 2028 love it, want it very badly, but there are so many steps that I get to take before I get there, and I just want to enjoy and soak everything up. Because, again, I do not have to do this. I get to, I’m excited to, I want to, so really soaking up all these moments. 

Celestine’s return to the sport will certainly add an excitement level to the sport. Her infectious smile, love for gymnastics, and joy she brings to competition elevates every meet she enters, and always gives the audience a reason to smile even brighter. Her family, Missouri support system, and the ability to balance multiple different aspects of life helps her find success in every avenue she enters, and that will be no different as she begins her run towards LA 2028. 

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