Cooper Kim: Authenticity In Every Moment

Cooper Kim has long been an athlete who has caught the attention of the gymnastics world with his unique high bar routine, artistic floor, and engaging off-competition persona. In 2026, Kim appears to have shot to stardom overnight, and his story to the top is somewhat unconventional in the best ways.

Kim took time off from Elite gymnastics in 2024 and 2025 and paved his own way to NCAA gymnastics at Stanford. After helping Stanford to their 11th NCAA team title in April of 2026, Kim prepared for the Xfinity U.S. Championships in August. There, he became the happy surprise of the competition, easing his way to twelve hit routines throughout the week and soaring to the high bar title. Kim has connected with many fans through his authenticity and openness across his social media platforms, and now finds himself on the U.S. National Team and preparing to represent Team USA at the Paris World Challenge Cup September 26-27.

“Do I Want to do Elite Anymore?”

Kim grew up in the USAG system as a promising junior Elite gymnast. However, he decided to take a step back from Elite gymnastics in 2024 before beginning his NCAA career in the fall. He wanted to take time to understand if he had the passion for Elite gymnastics to continue putting in the extra hours that side of the sport requires.   

“I didn’t necessarily have injuries that were holding me back. It was more, do I want to do Elite anymore? I was in a weird mental state where I was like, I don’t know if this is a true passion of mine anymore, and do I really want to go through with the extra hours of training and missing some home time because of it. I think freshman year was a time for me to really figure out what I truly wanted,” Kim explained. 

The time away from the Elite world helped Kim realize that he was missing something in his life. He returned home the summer after his freshman year in 2025 and contemplated what he wanted in the future. After discussions with his family, the Michigan native entered his sophomore year of college committed to returning to the Elite track. 

“I think that was a necessary time for me to figure out things and being deprived of it made me realize that I wanted it,” Kim said about his time away from Elite gymnastics. “Going into my sophomore year, I was like, ‘Hey, I will be training All-Around and having Elite as another focus of mine on top of the NCAA season.’ It was crazy because I almost gave up Elite, but I’m very glad I came back to it, and I’m feeling a lot more fulfilled and feeling like I’m doing the most that I’m capable of doing.” 

Kim entered the 2026 Elite season with zero expectations. He wanted to compete to the best of his abilities and not tie himself to a particular set of goals he needed to achieve. What followed was beyond his wildest dreams. 

The college junior put on a stunning display inAugust at the Xfinity U.S. Championships in Phoenix, Arizona. He wowed the crowd with his dynamic high bar routine that led him to the U.S. high bar title and a sixth place All-Around finish. The men’s competition in Phoenix was completed on a Saturday evening. Athletes returned to their hotel rooms awaiting the announcement of National Team and international event selections. The clock turned midnight when Kim received a text from Stanford Head Coach Thom Gilelmi telling him that he was added to the U.S. National Team and was selected to compete at the upcoming Paris World Challenge Cup September 26-27. He was surrounded by his Stanford teammates in their rooms when he received the message, adding to the excitement of the moment. “This is not real life,” Kim thought to himself. “If you told me this last year I would think you’re lying because there’s no way. I’m just so excited.”

Kim avoids making lofty goals for himself when he enters a major competition in order to not make himself feel lesser should those goals not come to fruition. Instead, he elects a mindset of wanting to achieve results and not making that result a need. Qualifying to the U.S. National Team was one of those wants and getting the opportunity to compete in Paris was the cherry on top. He entered Phoenix the most prepared he had ever been in his life and let his gymnastics speak for itself. “I was really really happy with how my performance went,” Kim said. “It just showed that all my hard work actually could mean something in the end and turn into these great results that I always dreamed of.”

His Own Way 

Kim was born and raised in Michigan. His mother, Heather, was a gymnast for Michigan State in the early 90s, and his older sister, Karly, was also a gymnast. Having gymnastics in his blood meant being enrolled in “Mommy and Me” classes at 18-months-old before beginning recreational classes, followed by competitive gymnastics at the age of 5. He was trained under Tom Buese growing up before switching to Mega Gymnastics during the pandemic to train under Juha Tanskanen. Kim then made his way back to Buese to finish off his club career and credits him for setting the foundation of his gymnastics.  

“He made me have a very strong appreciation for mastering your basics and having your fundamentals fully solidified before you move on to any upgrades,” Kim said. “I had to be very patient, because I wasn’t really allowed to train super hard, high-level skills when I was younger. But I’m really glad he held me back in that manner, because my basics have really allowed me to excel and do all these high-level skills. He was also very big on artistry. He loved leading my club teammates and me to throw transition sequences on floor, making sure we had good posture, good arm extension, and good finger extension. I’m really glad he did that, because it made me the gymnast that I am today.”

Kim grew up inspired by Olympic Champion Kōhei Uchimura due to his “mastery of the sport.” He also enjoys Brazil’s Arthur Nory for his artistry, and Japan’s Kenzō Shirai for his ability to also train different skills on women’s events which Kim has also popularized. Kim has showcased himself training many fun and difficult skills on beam. He enjoys training on beam before every practice in order to wake his body and as a unique way to warm up. His beam warmups also help him tap into the artistic side of his gymnastics. “I think that artistic component is even more important for me,” Kim explained. “It lets me do my gymnastics how I truly want to do it without any other expectations for me.”

Kim has begun trying beam combinations that were popularized by different female athletes including Kui Yuanyuan, Dina Kochetkova, Katelyn Ohashi, and more. He even asks Stanford women’s gymnastics head coach, Tabitha Yim, for advice with beam. “She gives me pointers all the time on how to correct a skill, and I feel like I’m one of her athletes!” Kim holds an appreciation for gymnasts from the 10.0 system for their originality despite not being pushed to compete harder skills due to the limitations in the scoring system. 

“I just had a great appreciation for that because they could have done a simpler routine, but they chose to make it more difficult, more artistic, and threw in a lot more risk,” Kim said about 80s and 90s beam routines. “I love that style of beam, so I’ve always been obsessed with older beam videos. I would watch them all the time on YouTube when I was younger. That was mainly all I watched! I have a great appreciation for that era.”

Kim has practiced skills on beam since the age of 4 when his sister had a floor beam inside their home. The rest is history, and Kim continued to level-up his balance beam abilities. However, he agrees to tame his beam skills down for Gilelmi. “There’s been moments where I throw some skills and he’s like, ‘Never do that again,” Kim said with a laugh. “I’ll respect that, because my actual sport comes first. I’ve tamed it down a little bit for him, so I think we’ve come to this mutual agreement where I can do a little bit of beam here and there.”

Across the Coast 

Kim was one of the most highly-recruited athletes during his recruiting cycle. He visited four other schools before visiting Stanford. The ease with which he talked with his future teammates struck him. He recalls sitting around a bonfire with the entire men’s and women’s gymnastics teams and being able to hold conversations easily and not overthink at all. Seeing how the teams interacted with each other convinced him to be a Cardinal. “It was just like family vibes, and everyone was real with each other,” Kim explained. “I really appreciated that. I think a really good approach for our team is that we treat each other like family members.” 

Kim has embraced this family every minute of his Stanford career thus far. His teammates have helped him become the truest form of himself. They see him for him and have been an immense support in every aspect of sport and life. A heartfelt message after the NCAA National Championships in April showcased exactly what the group of Stanford athletes mean to him. 

“To put on a constant performance for others, to act in a way that isn’t authentically yourself, is not only draining, but also restricting,” Kim wrote on Instagram in April. “It limits you of real growth and true fulfillment. We all deserve the opportunity to navigate life, with all of its ups and downs, through a lens fit for us. This team has allowed me to do just that. I cannot be more grateful to be a part of this amazing program that has  accepted me not only as a gymnast, but as my true self. Amazing things start to happen when we let it happen.” 

Finding a team that he could truly be himself was of utmost importance during his recruitment process.

“My team has been great, they love me for me, and I love them for them,” Kim told Inside Gymnastics at the Xfinity U.S. Championships in early August. Kim points out Stanford Team Captain Zach Green as a member of his team that always supports everyone surrounding him. “I feel like you could come to him with anything, and he has a solution for it, or he’s been through that same thing before,” Kim said. “He’s been a very good outlet for me to just talk about any struggles or worries that I have. I fully support him as team captain because he’s such a great leader.”

Kim knew from the second he stepped foot on Stanford’s campus that this was his home. The pre-med major has enjoyed every moment of his time in California and is ecstatic to have a team that has truly become a second family. That family would go on to win the 2026 NCAA National title, a moment Kim will never forget.

Looking Ahead

Kim’s eyes are dialed in on the upcoming Paris World Cup where he plans on competing floor, pommel horse, vault, and high bar. His goals remain the same as every competition he enters: stay calm, focused, and present. He’s also looking to enjoy the incredible audience that Paris provides and wants to show the world just how great his gymnastics is because he knows he can truly be incredible. He wants to compete with the same mindset he had in Phoenix. And while Kim is just getting adjusted to the Elite stage again at the age of 20, many fans are looking forward to his journey towards LA28, but are also curious if they can expect him to continue his career after 2028.

As of now, that answer is unknown to Kim, who hopes to attend med school after getting his bachelors degree. He would likely need to choose between school or his sport, as he knows how difficult it could be to balance med school with Elite gymnastics.

“I’ve had people ask me about 2032, and that just sounds really far away,” Kim said. “We’ll see. I don’t want to make any final decisions right now, because I just don’t know. We’re gonna push for 2028, and then we’ll see what comes after that.”

For now, Kim is focused on 2028 as well as implementing new upgrades to his routine, including a variety of skills, and of course, always being Cooper.

“I’m just gonna keep being me, keep doing what I can, and we’re gonna chug on with this elite stuff!” 

Catch Kim at the Paris World Challenge Cup September 26 & 27. 

Photos By: Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics