SLO gymnast earns national gold for age group: ‘Incredible athlete and human being’
A San Luis Obispo gymnast who has been training for a decade took home a gold medal by a massive margin at this year’s National Championships.
Competing in the all-around event, Aiden Nielson, 18, of Nipomo won this year’s Level 10 National Championship in Mesa, Arizona for athletes under 19.
USA Gymnastics, the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States, held the annual National Championships in Mesa Arizona in mid-May.
Nielson, who’s homeschooled, trains at Legacy Training Center at 4725 Allene Way in San Luis Obispo, a facility owned by his parents Adam and Billie Jeanne Nielson.
Nielson’s coach, Peace Yasami, said that Aiden won the meet with a score of 152.150, beating 48 other competitors. His score was 2.65 points above the second place finisher.
“For perspective, the gap between first and second was the same as the gap between second and 11th place, Yasami said.
“Aiden crushed it,” Yasami said. “He was calm and performed his routines like he does everyday with great ability and the highest execution.”
Nielson also was the floor and parallel bars national champion, as well as placing fourth on high bar as well.
“I did not really expect to win,” Nielson told The Tribune. “Honestly, it was a surprise. My goal at every meet going into it, is just to pretty much have fun. You can be the best and then just mess up.”
Nielson trains 25 hours per week, his coach said.
“Aiden is an incredible athlete and human being,” Yasami said. “He is such a dedicated, hard working athlete. He is very focused and I think this is why he was able to hit 12 routines over two days of competition. Not only did he have the highest execution scores in the meet, he also had the highest difficulty.”
Yasami added: “It is wonderful that one of SLO’s own is being recognized as one of the top gymnasts in the country. I didn’t tell him on his last apparatus that he could fall the times and still win. What I did tell him was, ‘You don’t need to do your best, just do your “normal”, your normal is good enough. Be here, be present, enjoy this moment.’”
His coach said: “After finishing on the pommel horse, I gave him a big hug and with tears in my eyes I told him, ‘You are the National Champion.’ He wasn’t keeping track of the scores. So he looked at me with a puzzled look as if I were joking. Then it set in. The look on his face was priceless, a mix of wonderment, excitement, gratitude, and humility.”
Nielson said his coach reflects his name, Peace, in his temperment and spirit.
“Being peaceful is his mantra,” Nielson said.
Nielson said he started gymnastics at the age of 8 and began competing at 10.
“I have a college scholarship offer and I’m just I’m still considering things,” Nielson said. “I haven’t made any decisions yet. But I’ll definitely keep doing gymnastics.”
As for Olympics talk, he said: “When is the next Olympics? 2024. Just put the Olympics on and if you see Aiden Nielson on, you’ll know he made it.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 9:34 AM.
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