Leung to step down as USA Gymnastics President & CEO at end of 2025

05 Jun Li Li Leung to step down as USA Gymnastics President & CEO at end of 2025

Posted at 11:13h in 2025 NCAA Headquarters, 2025 U.S. Classic, 2025 Xfinity U.S. Championships, News & Features by Christy Sandmaier 0 Comments

By Christy Sandmaier

Vice President & Co-Publisher

PER A PRESS RELEASE FROM USA GYMNASTICS

INDIANAPOLIS (June 5, 2025) – Having led a historic turnaround that saw athlete health, competitive achievement and business success powerfully align, USA Gymnastics President & CEO Li Li Leung on Thursday announced that she will step down from her role at the conclusion of 2025.

Since her hiring in March 2019, Leung has worked with the USAG board of directors, staff, and the broader gymnastics community to guide USA Gymnastics through a cultural transformation that began a new chapter for the sport and re-established USAG as a leader in the Olympic and international gymnastics movements.

“The opportunity to lead USA Gymnastics has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime,” Leung said. “Thanks to the dedication of the entire gymnastics community, we are now in an incredible position as we turn our attention to the L.A. Olympic Games. The last several months have been a time of great reflection, and I know that now is the right time to pass the torch to the next leader, with the sport and organization thriving. I wanted to ensure the board has the opportunity to conduct a thorough search and also give my successor a long runway into the 2028 Olympic Games. I’m going to take some time to reset before determining what is next, and I look forward to USA Gymnastics accomplishing great things in 2025 and beyond.”

“Li Li was the right leader at the right time for USA Gymnastics and accomplished in six years what many thought was not possible,” said Board Chair Kathryn Carson. “Her deep passion for gymnastics and extraordinary dedication to leading transformation has positioned USA Gymnastics to move boldly toward LA28. With this strong foundation, we are confident we will identify a leader to build on Li Li’s legacy.”

With a new board of directors established in 2018, a new mission statement and set of organizational values that prioritizes athlete safety, and nearly 70% new staff, USA Gymnastics moved rapidly toward rebirth since Leung took on the role of President & CEO. USA Gymnastics established its Athlete Bill of Rights in December 2020, a movement that was among the first of its kind in sport, and emerged from bankruptcy in 2022 with a foundational culture of athlete support and safety driving organizational decision-making.

Since that time, USA Gymnastics has unveiled an expanded funding structure for National Team athletes that brought greater equity across disciplines and genders and introduced a groundbreaking program to help provide mental health visits to National Team athletes and their coaches. The organization has restored its corporate partnership family with both Fortune 500 and endemic brands, headlined by the the largest partnership in its history, a five-year deal with Nike that extends through the LA28 Olympic Games. On the grass roots level, USAG now boasts more than 3,300 member clubs, nearly 240,000 members, and sanctions more than 3,500 events on an annual basis.

USA Gymnastics athletes have likewise experienced a resurgence of success, with the last two years alone bringing history-making performances across all disciplines. Among the most notable achievements are 11 medals including women’s team gold at the 2024 Olympic Games, historic men’s team bronze medals in Paris and the 2023 World Championships, 10 medals at the 2023 Trampoline & Tumbling World Championships including team gold, the first-ever medal for an American at a rhythmic World Championships at the 2023 Junior Worlds, and the first World Cup and World Championships medals for American parkour athletes.

Leung was voted vice chair of the NGB Council of the U.S. Olympic sport governing bodies in 2020 and was elected to the Executive Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) in 2021, winning re-election in 2024. She was named a Sports Business Journal “Power Player” in 2020, an SBJ Gamechanger in 2024, and USAG was nominated as Team of the Year for the 2025 Sports Business Awards. Leung was recognized on the 2023 A100 list as one of the country’s most impactful Asian Americans and named a 2025 WISE Woman of the Year.

USA Gymnastics has engaged CAA Executive Search to lead the search for Leung’s successor, with the intent to have a new president and CEO identified prior to her departure at the end of the year.

For a full bio of Li Li Leung, visit the USA Gymnastics website.