Artistry In Motion, Freshman Aurélie Tran Answers the Call for the GymHawks

Artistry In Motion

Already approaching excellence early in her freshman campaign as an Iowa GymHawk, Aurélie Tran is truly something special to watch. She’s one of those athletes who just captivates you with her performances the moment she salutes, displaying full extension, amplitude, and grace, with a beautiful, expressive movement quality. 

Tran first caught my eye at the 2023 World Championships in Belgium and again in 2024 in Paris as a member of Team Canada, standing out across the floor with her musicality and interpretation. She fully commits to each and every routine in a way that’s so mesmerizing to watch. It’s a trait that in many ways cannot be taught, and has translated beautifully to her college career.

Named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice (sharing the second award with Minnesota’s Teryn Crump), Tran captured her third All-Around title of the season last week against Nebraska, scoring a 39.325, where the GymHawks also notably posted their highest team score of the season. So, it’s safe to say she’s off to an incredible start as the regular season soon approaches the halfway mark.

Speaking with Tran, she’s as humble and gracious about her career and accomplishments as anyone I’ve ever met. Admittedly nervous about coming to Iowa to compete NCAA gymnastics in the States, Tran has settled right in. She’s already contributing on every event to what seems to be a very re-inspired GymHawk team led by Jen Llewellyn, who was named the fifth head coach in program history in June, following head coach Larissa Libby’s resignation.

So far this season, Tran has been enjoying every minute of the process and the new atmosphere of the NCAA arena while adjusting to being a student-athlete. “I remember I was a little scared coming into Iowa. There was a coaching change, but it was mostly because it’s different competing in college,” she said. “College is different from Elite. And, I also grew up speaking French. It was also different, but it turned out pretty good.”

Like most incoming freshmen, Tran’s found training and competing within the team atmosphere the biggest change from Elite gymnastics. And the biggest motivator.

“The biggest change is definitely the team aspect. It’s very different, but I love it a lot. I’m a little more of a shy person, so I wasn’t sure how it was going to be, but everyone in the gym is so happy to be there and working hard, so it helps a lot,” she said. “And I love to go to the gym every day.

“For the season, we’ve worked a lot on confidence, and the team aspect is very different from Elite because Elite was more individual. So, that one was a little more scary for me, but we worked a lot on that! And I’m happy that I’ve been doing well so far. I don’t know if it’s going to stay that way, but every meet, I do my best and I control what I can control.”

From Paris to Iowa

Ironically, it was an injury that set Tran on a specific trajectory towards NCAA gymnastics and the University of Iowa. 

“I had a little time off because of an injury. And then coming back, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make the Olympics. So I started the recruiting process, actually a little too late than normal. But I’m glad I had an offer from Iowa. Then, I also made the Olympics in the meantime. So, a lot has happened since that injury. And, it went well!

“My injury was about two years ago. So my first competition back, I was not expecting to win. It was Elite Canada in 2023, I think. And after that I thought, okay, maybe I’ve got a chance to make it. So from that first competition, I started building and made the World team. In January, I didn’t perform as well at Elite Canada. I think I was a little too nervous. It was the first competition of the Olympic year, and we were adding a lot of difficulty, but I wasn’t that ready for it – more mentally, I wasn’t as prepared. We took a little step back and focused more on making everything clean. And, I think that’s what helped me the most.”

Tran, a Repentigny, Quebec, Canada native, won silver in the all-around at the 2024 Canadian Gymnastics Championships, which ultimately guaranteed her a spot on the Olympic team. She also brought home silver on bars, beam, and floor, and finished fifth on vault at that competition

Walking into Bercy Arena in Paris, she couldn’t quite believe she was there at first. Eventually, she settled in and trusted her training, allowing her preparation to take over and fuel her focus as the team prepared for Qualifications. 

She loved pin trading while she was there, making her own baguette at the Olympic bakery, found living in the village with the best athletes in the world amazing, and cherished the time she had to explore Paris with her parents for a couple of extra days before it was back to business and on to Iowa to start her freshman year. 

“It was surreal,” she remembers. “For the competition, I was very focused by that point because we had just warmed up and we were walking in. I was doing the all-around, so I was pretty focused. It was mostly after the competition that I started taking everything in and realizing I did it!”

“She dances and she entrances”

While her trademark artistry and beautiful gymnastics are what she’s known for, Tran, a member of our Inside Gymnastics 50 Most Artistic Class of 2024, says that developing her own style and the ability to really perform and feel every note of music actually didn’t come at all as naturally as we might think. 

“I don’t think I had that naturally. I was more on this shy side. When I came into Gymnix, my new gym, that’s where they started working more on the artistry, something that I didn’t have before or, wasn’t really important. I didn’t think I’d be good at it because I wasn’t sure. I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I like this. It’s a little out of my comfort zone.’ We kept working on that, and then I started being more comfortable and improved.”

When you watch her, you can see the character, and see the story unfolding. And, as commentator Blythe Lawrence so perfectly noted during the 2023 Pan American Games, Tran “dances and she entrances.” 

At the Games, Tran’s work was on full display once again, as she helped lead Team Canada to a fifth place finish. The team, including Ellie Black, Cassie Lee, Shallon Olsen, Ava Stewart, and Tran, matched its best ever Olympic result in the women’s team competition.

Inspired by her Olympic teammates, especially four-time Olympian Black – “I just think she’s a really good teammate and has a lot of resilience. And that’s what I’ve learned looking at her and observing, and that’s really something that inspires me” – as well as those athletes who have strengthened their gymnastics and lengthened their careers by competing NCAA gymnastics simultaneously with Elite, Tran sees that possibility for herself and would definitely like to extend her Elite career. 

“Right now I’m going one year at a time,” she said. “I’m thinking about doing Elite this year, but not for sure yet. We’ll have a national team meeting later this week to make sure because there’s a lot of freshmen now that are from Team Canada. So, just to understand what the rules are, what do we have to do to maintain our Elite status. But, it’s something I would want to do.”

“As One”

As Tran works to develop her Elite strategy going forward, she’s more than dialed into her freshman year and is succeeding on every level. Steadily rising through the ranks, she’s currently 24th nationally in the All-Around with an average of 39.300 respectively. In the Big Ten, she ranks 4th in the All-Around, is in the top 10 on bars, and top 20 on beam. Tran’s goals are definitely to help the team succeed in any way she can, though she shyly adds scoring 10 is on her radar. 

“I know I want to get a perfect 10 at some point in college,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be this year or in the following years, but that would be a goal of mine.” 

This season for the GymHawks is all about purpose and action, something reflected daily in their motto. As Tran said, “It’s ‘As One and United in Purpose, Unstoppable in Action.’ That’s something that our whole team worked on and came up with. I really like it.”

With one Olympic dream fulfilled, new NCAA and Elite goals on the horizon, and a new home as a GymHawk, Tran is ready for her new chapter with her team. “Everyone wants to see each other succeed,” she said. “So it’s just a really great atmosphere. Everyone’s there for each other.”

Up Next: You can see Tran and the Gymhawks home against Rutgers on February 9. Action starts at Xtream Arena at 2 pm CT. The meet will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required).

Iowa Photos courtesy University of Iowa

2024 Olympic Games, Ricardo Bufolin for Inside Gymnastics magazine

Look for Nate’s NCAA Notes each week and stay tuned to InsideGym.com and Inside Gymnastics magazine for spotlight features and interviews throughout the 2025 season!

Nate Salsman, Della Fowler, Megan Roth and Christy Sandmaier provide NCAA coverage for Inside Gymnastics.

Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics magazine.

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