Olympian Shane Wiskus Looks For More Show-Stopping Moments

At the Olympic Trials in 2024, Tokyo Olympian Shane Wiskus had the audience in the palm of his hands through each skill he performed. The trials were held in Wiskus’ home state of Minnesota. The crowd roared for each routine he perfected as he executed skill after skill with ease. He had one of the greatest competitions of his career at the Paris Olympic Trials, hitting 12 for 12 and finishing third in the All-Around, and winning the second day of competition. Wiskus appeared invincible. 

“I felt like I was unstoppable,” Wiskus said. “The level of fitness that I had, the proficiency over my gymnastics and each apparatus that I was competing in, my consistency, my mentality, my confidence, it’s just never been higher. You take that and you throw out a 12 for 12 performance at Olympic Trials in front of a home crowd, in front of 18,000 people. It just amplifies all of that. I felt like a superhero those few days, and no matter what happens with the rest of my career, I’ll cherish that moment for the rest of my life.”

Despite his incredible performance, he narrowly missed making his second Olympic team and was named a traveling alternate. Wiskus had long talked about finishing his career in 2024 after the Paris Olympics. Prior to trials, he constantly mentioned how it would be his last time training in his gym and his last week training.

 “I was pretty dead set on retiring after Paris,” Wiskus said. “I’ve been talking about it all year, how this is my final push, and we’d have our last hard week in the gym before Olympic Trials. I would be like ‘Oh, it’s my last hard week ever. The last time I compete a bar routine.”

 However, after spending time on the GOAT Tour with Simone Biles, he realized that he had more to give to the sport. Performing in front of a crowd and putting on a show helped him rediscover his love for gymnastics and understand that he had more potential. 

“I haven’t really had fun with the sport in a while,” Wiskus said. “Getting to put on a show for people, as opposed to competing for a spot on the Olympic team.” 

After the tour wrapped, he decided to have a surgery on a nagging injury with the goal of returning to competition in 2026. Wiskus is an athlete with no shortage of success. He is a Tokyo Olympian from 2021, multiple time national medalist, but a renewed perspective finds him eager to return to competition. 

“I think just my whole perspective on competitive gymnastics has shifted a little bit,” Wiskus said. “It’s not like I have this burning desire to win an Olympic medal and accomplish 25 more things before I’m done, I’m satisfied with my career. But there’s that part of me that’s like, I have more potential. I can be a better gymnast than I was before.”

Originally Wiskus intended on taking his return to the sport year-by-year. But with the LA Olympics just two years away, many wondered if Wiskus would add to the already extremely talented crop of U.S. men vying for a spot on the Olympic team. With his return to competition set, there is no doubt you can see Wiskus on the path for another Olympic team. 

“Mentally, I’m pretty committed to LA,” Wiskus said. “I feel like it’s only two years away. I’m just getting back into it, two more years of grinding and pushing through those tough days in the gym. Two years goes by so quick, especially when you’re 27 years-old, it’s increasingly less and less of a percentage of your life.  I know just from experience, that two years goes by in a flash. So I feel pretty confident that I’m committing to the rest of the quadrennium.”

The Return 

I had the opportunity to talk with Wiskus on a day that was truly full circle. On February 4, 2025, he had shoulder surgery for a nagging labral tear that originated in 2018. Exactly one year later, he was chatting with me about his comeback. 

 “I don’t think it could have gone any smoother, everything pretty much went exactly to plan,” Wiskus said about his recovery. “I didn’t have any major hiccups, except for little flare ups here and there. I think that whole process just went by so quick, and here I am getting ready for Winter Cup.”

He had a full support team surrounding him during his recovery, including his physical therapist, family, and his girlfriend Luci who was by his side through every moment. 

  “I have this recliner where it would stand you up,” Wiskus said. “It would lay you completely flat, and then it would even get off the floor and dunk you out of the chair. I would get in that chair in the beginning of the day, and then Luci would bring me lunch, and I would get out of the chair to go to the bathroom and go back to the chair, and I’d be playing video games, and she’d make me dinner and driving to practice and all that stuff, like she was just kind of doing all the dirty work! So bless her heart, she really did a lot for me.”

Prior to Winter Cup, Wiskus competed at two smaller competitions. He appeared as if he never left, executing strong routines across every event. Originally he felt the nerves of competing again, but as soon as he raised his arm to salute the muscle memory returned. 

“The first routine was definitely very nerve-wracking,” Wiskus said. “Leading up to it, I couldn’t help but think that it’s been a year and a half since my last competition, and in between that I had a surgery. I wasn’t training for a good portion of time, and there’s a big gap there. Leading up to that first routine, I was definitely nervous, but then once I got going, it was like riding a bike.” 

Executing his routines in competition was not the difficult part of returning to a meet. Wiskus was more concerned about remembering which snacks to pack, what meals to eat, and everything that surrounds the event. 

“It’s funny, because I used to be so on top of it like these are the snacks that I eat throughout the meet at this time,” Wiskus said. “This is my meal in the morning. This is what I eat around lunchtime or late early afternoon. It was just all coming back to me as I was going through the process of getting ready for the competitions. I feel like it was really good to get two competitions under my belt before Winter Cup.”

As Wiskus enters Winter Cup, he knows that he has yet to reach his peak, his main goal is to prove that he is still extremely competitive, and can hang with the best of the best. 

“My goal is just to go out there and put on the best performance that I can, and compete at the level that I’ve been training,” Wiskus said. “I think if I can do that, then I’ll have good chances of getting to go to some assignments and representing Team USA again.”

EVO Family

After the Tokyo Olympics, EVO Gymnastics was launched with the goal of creating a program for Team USA’s top male gymnasts. The Men’s program is run by Olympians, Syque Caesar and Sam Mikulak. Wiskus was one of the first athletes to make the move. He trains alongside multiple Olympic medalists and World Champions, including Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, and Donnell Whittenburg. The environment has been everything for Wiskus. Everyone at EVO trains in a slightly different way, and provides each athlete with something different to learn. 

“I think the people you surround yourself with and the guys that you train alongside, play a very big role in the level that you’re able to reach yourself,” Wiskus said. “There’s always something you can learn from each other. Just seeing the level of gymnastics in the gym, like every single day I’m exposed to world champions and world finalists on almost every single event.”

Training at EVO truly feels like training like professional athletes. The gymnasts have access to an unmatched level of medical staff, recovery, and training equipment. The vibe is completely different than your average college team. 

“We train down at EVO as professional athletes, not student athletes,” Wiskus said. “We are professional athletes, it is our job to be the best at gymnastics that we can possibly be. I think that kind of approach motivates a lot of guys to come down here and try to experience what it’s like to train that way. I think by training that way, you become the best gymnast that you possibly can become.”

Mikulak is more than just a coach for Wiskus, he is also his 2021 Olympic teammate. Mikulak is a very experienced athlete. From three Olympic Games, to multiple World Championships, he has seen it all. His past accomplishments can put him right inside his athletes’ mindset. 

 “His superpower is the fact that he knows exactly what we’re feeling,” Wiskus said. “Whether we’re having a tough day in the gym or struggling with this skill, or we’re feeling super tired and we have to push through a long day. Or if you’re at the Olympic Games and you’re getting ready to salute for your team, or you’re at trials trying to make the Olympic team he’s been in every single one of those positions. He does a really good job of communicating to the athletes and kind of getting a pulse on how they’re feeling, how they’re doing.”

The world of men’s gymnastics has shifted since Wiskus last competed in 2024. Now athletes are only required to count their best eight skills in their routines, instead of ten. Artistry rules have also changed on floor. Gymnast must perform a scale or other dance elements. Wiskus’ teammate, Jackson Harrison, is known for incredible dance elements, and has been able to help Wiskus and other EVO members in these aspects. 

“Jackson has a gorgeous floor routine.” Wiskus said. “The transitions, the choreography, it’s all very intentional. It’s like showmanship, So I’ve been working with them to try to get, at least a little bit better. But it’s still a work in progress. It’s, you know, it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.”

The Return

Wiskus has offered fans a behind the scenes look at his comeback journey. He has started a mini YouTube series called “The Comeback.” The series documents different aspects of his training and gives an inside look to his headspace as he prepares for competition. Wiskus is creating the videos for himself. He wants to be able to look back at his journey and remember how much he overcame. 

“It’s kind of more for me,” Wiskus said. “When I look back in the in the future, and I look back at these times I get to watch what one of those practices were like when I was coming back, and I intend on continuing to do this once a month, and it’s just kind of a fun thing on the side.  There’s always some good content you can pull from those for socials. I think it really just started as a way for me to document my next couple of years leading up into LA and to remember these times.”

Wiskus is ready to meet every moment that 2026 and beyond will offer. He is joining one of the deepest fields in the history of men’s gymnastics in the United States. He is potentially one of six Olympians contending for a spot on the 2028 U.S. Olympic team. 

Be ready for Shane to test the waters at the 2026 Winter Cup, and implement upgrades on each event throughout the year. Catch him at Winter Cup on February 21 at 7 p.m. ET.

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