“I Need a Medal.” Felix Dolci Set For 2025 World Championships

Canadian Olympian Felix Dolci grew up with an extreme passion for gymnastics. His personal role model was Japanese gymnastics legend Kōhei Uchimura. As a kid, Dolci would imitate the way Uchimura dismounted and saluted. His similarities to Uchimura earned him the nickname “Dolcimura.” As he grew older, he realized he could not be a copycat and wanted to be his own person. Dolci has been on the rise since 2023. At the World Championships in 2023 Dolci helped Team Canada qualify a full team to the Olympic Games in 2024 for the first time since 2008. In Paris, Dolci led his team to a spot in the team final, and also competed in the All-Around final. With Olympic experience on his side, Dolci entered 2025 with extra motivation. In the first half of 2025, Dolci took home gold in the All-Around at Canadian Championships, in June he won five medals at the Pan American Championships, including an All-Around gold. In July, he won gold on high bar at the FISU Games and became the first Canadian man to ever win gold at a FISU Games. 

 “It was a strong, strong 2025, so far, but we’re looking at a little ramp up towards worlds. You know, this is going to be pretty much my last big comp of the year,” Dolci said. 

Dolci has used every meet in 2025 to build off the momentum created in 2023 and 2024 His success in the summer certainly showcases his ability to achieve his goals. During the high bar final at the FISU Games, he defeated the last two Olympic high bar champions, Daiki Hashimoto (2020), and Oka Shinnosuke (2024), proving he is one of the best in the world on the event. While Dolci is happy about his success thus far in 2025, he’s taking a more analytical approach to these events, focusing more on the scores behind the medals, in order to achieve the ultimate goal of getting on World Championship and Olympic podiums. 

“Of course, you know, winning a medal, a gold medal at the FISU Games, is great,” Dolci said. “The real answer to your question is that it’s great. I was super happy. I was glad. But the reality is that my sight has been set on making great medals. When I say great medals, and I again, I don’t want to seem ungrateful by any means for FISU Games, for example. But you know, medals at Worlds and medals at Olympic Games.”

The Rise 

Dolci has been a major factor in the reassurance of men’s gymnastics in Canada. Leading the Canadian team back to the Olympics for the first time since 2008 has remained a highlight in his career. 

“I’ve had the chance to live so many great moments in my career and winning some medals at a young age, but this feeling, this competition, was probably the pinnacle,” Dolci said.  “I think this specific combination, if we were to qualify, the amount of pressure that was on the balance at that moment, and the relief that we felt after this subdivision, oh, boy, oh boy.  I’m telling you, I was lighter. I was much lighter after comp.” 

Dolci’s face lit up when asking him about his Canadian teammates. His teammates are one of the reasons that this moment in his career remains such a fond memory. The bond the team shares is deep and a major contribution to their continued success. The cohesiveness of the team is evident in each meet. The team moves as one entity, a rare factor in the individual sport of gymnastics. Dolci attributes that to the fact that the core members of the Canadian team train together on a daily basis, helping to create a strong connection between each other.  

 “It’s beyond teammates,” Dolci said. “These are like family members. It’s something special to be able to share those moments every single day. You know, the good ones and the bad ones together as we go through the, you know, most stressful moments of our lives, or biggest competitions of our lives, or biggest accomplishments of our lives.”

Achieving The Dream 

In 2024, Dolci’s lifelong dream was realized, making his first Olympic team in Paris. His highlight of those Games? Simply being there. Getting to see the Olympic rings on the competition walls and competing on the biggest floor gymnastics has to offer never got old. Dolci had been manifesting his Olympic appearance since he first began the sport. Starting as a child when he blew the candles out each birthday his wish was to make it to the Olympics. That tradition did not stop until the dream came true. 

“Looking around, seeing like 20, 30,000 people, looking at you, cheering you on, seeing the guys, going all out at the Games,” Dolci said. “It was just savage, it’s like a jungle and it’s crazy. It’s so raw, it’s hard to explain, man, like raw performances, desire, pure ambition and seeing that was beautiful.”

The Paris Olympics left Dolci with extra motivation and drive for the future. While he already had goals of being on World and Olympic podiums, competing at the Olympics helped him realize that those goals were possibilities. And with his first Olympics down, Dolci has no plans to stop. 

“What I usually tell people is that I always wanted to do about three Games,” Dolci said. “I feel like you do your first one, you feel it out. You do your second one, you kill it, and then you do your third one, and then you’re like, you kill it, but feel it out at the same time! I kind of had it in my head, it was to make the Tokyo Olympics first. But what happened was that the Covid impacted my qualification round. I wasn’t even able to qualify for the Olympics because of that. I’m still into that plan. I still want to go to Brisbane as a third games, I won’t put a time clock on that career, specifically, if I still love it, if I still think I can perform.”

As for the 2028 Olympics in LA? You can easily count Dolci in. 

“Olympic Games in LA? That’s crazy, yeah. So I will definitely be there. You can count me in.”

Evaluating The Stage

With the continued rise of social media, many gymnasts have begun showcasing their unique abilities online and helping to evaluate gymnastics. Dolci has gained thousands of followers on social media through short form video content, and encourages all gymnasts to use social media to promote the sport. 

“We know that gymnastics has never attracted the same amount of eyeballs as soccer, basketball, or these other professional sports, and it’s super hard to compete,” Dolci said. “I think social media is the best way to impact a mass amount of people. And I believe that not only it’s great for the sport, but it’s great for individuals, because in the end everybody’s trying to make their little breadcrumb and survive and make it professional and earn a bit of money on the side. And I think social media is also a perfect way to do it.”

Not only does Dolci believe it is the perfect way to earn income while competing, he also feels it can set athletes up for life post sport. When talking to younger athletes, Dolci encourages them to find their passions, and use social media to display those passions. 

“If you’re a young gymnast who wants to share whatever from social media, I mean, I’m, I’m all for it, specifically with gymnastics, come on, man, you’re doing flips on a high bar, catching the bar, doing dismounts. These are Superman moves right there,” Dolci said.

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Dolci’s build in 2025 has been preparing him to meet the moment at the upcoming World Championships in Jakarta Indonesia. He has hopes to implement upgrades on all six events heading into the competition, and only has one goal in mind to leave Jakarta with a medal around his neck. 

“I need a medal,” Dolci said. “Yeah, that would definitely be my goal. And it’s super ambitious. It’s never, never easy. You really need to find a silver lining at those specific moments and pull your cards out of the deck properly, but that’s what I’m going for. Because I feel like if we don’t set very, very ambitious goals, we’ll be content with okay results, which is fine for some people, I guess, but for me, I know for a fact that’s not what I want for myself. That’s not what I want for my career. So I love the idea of saying, Let’s shoot for the moon and listen, maybe, just maybe we land somewhere in the stars.”

While Dolci’s goal may be ambitious, his determination and confidence on the competition floor could easily lead him to his ultimate goal. He wants younger athletes to share this similar mindset. Keeping interest level high in gymnastics remains a main goal. 

“I want to keep the people engaged in gymnastics. Keep watching it. Keep encouraging the guys, the girls that are spending, you know, days, hours, years in the gym, training their heart away. I think they deserve recognition.”

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