Life-long Herriman resident Kaden Brown achieved a long-time goal last month: winning a gold medal in tumbling at the World Games, which were held in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Growing up, Kaden’s parents had a rule that their kids always be involved in some kind of sport or extracurricular activity. So when he started to get bored after earning his black belt in Taekwondo at the age of 11, he began looking for other options.

“My mom suggested gymnastics and at first I was skeptical because I thought it was just a girls sport,” Brown said. 

But after trying a beginner’s class offered by a local recreation center, he realized that he loved it and quickly enrolled at Wasatch Trampoline and Tumbling, located in Draper.

It was a perfect fit for a kid who grew up with a tendency to jump and flip off the family couch, much to his parents’ concern. In fact, he was such a natural that he won a national championship for his age group just one year after starting the sport. 

That was followed by joining the junior national team, with which he traveled to compete and won his first international medal in 2015. 

A year later, he moved up to the senior national team at just 15 years old. (Normally, the youngest age for new members is 17 years old.)

As part of the national team, he was able to travel and compete everywhere from Russia and Tokyo to Azerbaijan and Bulgaria. He also got to compete under the tutelage of his coach from Wasatch Trampoline and Tumbling, Becky Brown, who was added to the team’s coaching staff in 2015. 

“Becky Brown built me up from the bottom,” Kaden said. “Since she’s been in the sport, she gets it. One thing she excels in is the mental aspect of gymnastics. Mental blocks are a huge thing in gymnastics and she handles that kind of stress really well. I’ve had those mental blocks and she’s been able to help me get through those.”

Equally important for Kaden has been the support of his family. 

“They’re so supportive—not just financially but also emotionally. They’ve always been my number one fans. I’m super thankful to have them in my life,” he said. 

Throughout his time on the senior team, Kaden’s goal has been to reach The World Games, an athletic event held every four years that includes sports and events not contested in the Olympics. Originally, the event was supposed to be held in 2021, but had to be pushed back a year because of COVID-19.

Another thing that sets The World Games apart from the Olympics is that each country only sends one athlete per event. Being that one person to represent the United States in tumbling was a “huge honor,” Kaden said.

Kaden also happened to be the very last athlete to perform in the entire event. Being the last to go in the tumbling final, he knew that based on his competitors scores, all he had to do was execute his planned routine and he would win the gold. And that’s exactly what he did, with a high-soaring series of flips over 15 feet into the air, with the last one being a triple backflip. After sticking the landing, he threw his hands up in the air, as if he already knew that he had secured the gold medal. 

“It was an incredible experience,” Kaden said. “Competing in that arena was really amazing because it was an American crowd. They were super loud for all the Americans.”

So what’s next for Kaden? Prior to The World Games, he said he thought maybe he would retire from gymnastics afterwards. But now, he’s not so sure. While he’s expecting to graduate from the University of Utah with a degree in kinesiology next year and has an eye on a future career in sports training, he might not be done with his own career yet. Kaden said he’s looking into the possibility of joining Cirque du Soleil in Vegas, and also hasn’t ruled out the possibility of training for the next installment of The World Games, scheduled to take place in Chengdu, China in 2025. 

“I feel like I have enough left to give that I’m going to keep doing it. I’m not planning on being done anytime soon,” he said.  λ