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Donnell Whittenburg

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Donnell Whittenburg
Whittenburg at the 2024 Winter Cup
Personal information
Full nameDonnell Whittenburg
Born (1994-08-18) August 18, 1994 (age 31)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Height5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Gymnastics career
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Country
represented		United States United States
(2013–present)
Gym
Head coach(es)Anthony Ingrelli
Former coach(es)Vitaly Marinich, Abdul Mammeri
Eponymous skillsWhittenburg (still rings)
Medal record
Men's artistic gymnastics
Representing  United States
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Championships 1 0 2
Pan American Games 3 3 1
Pacific Rim Championships 3 2 0
Pan American Championships 0 1 0
Total 7 6 3
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2025 Jakarta Rings
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Nanning Team
Bronze medal – third place 2015 Glasgow Vault
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2015 Toronto Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Team
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Rings
Silver medal – second place 2015 Toronto Floor
Silver medal – second place 2015 Toronto Rings
Silver medal – second place 2015 Toronto Vault
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago All-around
Pan American Championships
Silver medal – second place 2021 Rio de Janeiro Team
Pacific Rim Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Everett Team
Gold medal – first place 2016 Everett Rings
Gold medal – first place 2016 Everett Parallel bars
Silver medal – second place 2016 Everett All-around
Silver medal – second place 2016 Everett Vault
FIG World Cup
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
All-Around World Cup 0 2 0
World Challenge Cup 1 2 2
Total 1 4 2

Donnell Whittenburg (born August 18, 1994) is an American artistic gymnast. He is the 2025 World Champion on rings and is a member of the United States men's national artistic gymnastics team.

Early life and education

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Whittenburg was born on August 18, 1994, in Baltimore, Maryland.[1] He attended Edgewood High School and later a local community college and DeVry University.[2] He was coached as a youth by Abdul Mammeri.[2] He decided to pursue gymnastics and moved to Colorado to attend the United States Olympic Training Center under Vitaly Marinich.[2]

Gymnastics career

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Whittenburg's strongest events are rings, vault, and floor.[3]

2014–2016

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Whittenburg was the 2014 U.S. national champion on vault and silver medalist on rings. He won a bronze medal with the team at the 2014 World Championships.[4]

Whittenburg competed at the 2015 Pan American Games where he won gold with the team. Individually he won silver on floor exericse, rings, and vault. The following month he competed at the 2015 National Championships where he won the national title on rings.[5][6] At the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Whittenburg won his first individual World Championships medal, a bronze on vault, with an average combined score of 15.350 behind Ri Se Gwang of North Korea (15.450) and Marian Drăgulescu of Romania (15.400). He also qualified for the still rings final but finished eighth with a score of 15.300.[7]

At the 2016 American Cup Whittenburg placed second behind Ryōhei Katō. He retained his national title on rings at the 2016 National Championships. At the 2016 Olympic trials he placed second on rings and vault and third on parallel bars and horizontal bar. Whittenburg was named as an alternate for the 2016 Olympic team.[8]

2017–2021

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Whittenburg won silver at the 2017 London World Cup behind Oleg Verniaiev. At the 2017 Koper World Challenge Cup he won gold on parallel bars and silver on floor exercise and vault. At the 2017 World Championships he placed sixth on floor exercise.[9]

At the 2021 Pan American Championships Whittenburg won a silver medal with the team.[10] He competed at the postponed 2020 Olympic trials but was ultimately not named to the Olympic team.[11] Whittenburg competed at the 2021 World Championships but did not qualify to any event finals.

2022–2024

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In 2022, Whittenburg placed second at the United States National Championships behind Brody Malone, scoring highest on rings and second highest on vault.[12][3] At the 2022 Paris World Challenge Cup, he won a bronze medal on parallel bars and rings.[13] He competed at the 2022 World Championships where he helped the United States finish fifth. Individually he finished eighth on rings.

Whittenburg competed at the 2023 Pan American Games where he helped the United States win team gold. Individually he won gold on rings and bronze in the all-around behind Félix Dolci and Diogo Soares.

In 2024, Whittenburg placed seventh in the all-around at the 2024 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships and 2024 United States Olympic trials and was named as a non-traveling replacement athlete for the 2024 Olympic team.[14]

2025

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Whittenburg changed gyms to EVO Gymnastics in 2025 and was a member of their delegation at the 2025 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships.[15] There he won bronze on rings and parallel bars. After the competition, he was selected to compete at the 2025 World Championships alongside Brandon Dang, Asher Hong, Patrick Hoopes, Brody Malone, and Kameron Nelson.[16]

At the World Championships, Whittenburg qualified for the rings and parallel bars finals.[17] During the rings final, Whittenburg won gold ahead of 2022 World Champion Adem Asil and 2021 World Champion Lan Xingyu. In doing so, Whittenburg became the first American to win the World title on rings.[18] At age 31 and 61 days, Whittenburg also became the oldest American man to win a World title, surpassing Kurt Thomas, who won two golds in 1979 at age 23 and 254 days, as well as the oldest American man to win a World Championships medal, surpassing Paul O'Neill (28 years and 354 days in 1994).[19]

Eponymous skills

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Whittenburg has one named element on the rings.[20][21]

Gymnastics elements named after Donnell Whittenburg
Apparatus Name Description Difficulty[a] Added to Code of Points
Rings Whittenburg "Triple salto backward piked." I, 0.9 Newsletter 32, 2017. Performed at the 2017 World Challenge Cup in Koper[22]
  1. ^ Valid for the 2025–2028 Code of Points

Competitive history

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Competitive history of Donnell Whittenburg at the junior level[5]
Year Event Team AA FX PH SR VT PB HB
2010 U.S. Championships (14–15) 10 11 20 6 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 12 5
2011 U.S. Championships (16–18) 6 11 17 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 6 4
2012 Winter Cup 21 9 35 13 25 32 28
U.S. Championships (16–18) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5 6 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Mexican Open 6
Competitive history of Donnell Whittenburg at the senior level[5]
Year Event Team AA FX PH SR VT PB HB
2013 Winter Cup 11 17 30 7 6 16 25
National Qualifier 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 11 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7
U.S. Championships 13 24 17 6 7 8 24
DTB Pokal Team Cup 5
2014 Winter Cup 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 20 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 7 10
Doha World Challenge Cup 4
National Qualifier 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 21 13
U.S. Championships 4 7 14 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 11
World Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 17 7
Stuttgart World Cup 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2015 Winter Cup 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 21 4 14 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 13
American Cup 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Pan American Games 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
U.S. Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 8 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 9 26
World Championships 5 8 8 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2016 Winter Cup 6 32 17 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 10 12
American Cup 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Pacific Rim Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6
U.S. Championships 5 11 25 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 5 12
Olympic Trials 4 8 14 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 12
2017 Winter Cup 4 4 14 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 13 5 7
London World Cup 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Koper World Challenge Cup 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
U.S. Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 11 10 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1
World Championships 6 R2 R1
2018 U.S. Championships 5 9
2019 National Qualifier 12 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6 22
U.S. Championships 7 7 14 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7 11 16
2021 Winter Cup 11 4 21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 11 10
Pan American Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Olympic Trials 14 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships 30 12
2022 U.S. Classic 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 20 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 13 23
U.S. Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 5 14 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 10 8
Paris World Challenge Cup 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
World Championships 5 8
2023 U.S. Classic 7 10 65 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 13 9 16
U.S. Championships 7 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 25 1st place, gold medalist(s) 18 13
Pan American Games 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2024 Winter Cup 5 4 19 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 6 16
U.S. Championships 7 7 13 4 1st place, gold medalist(s) 8 22
Olympic Trials 7 5 15 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 11 12
2025 U.S. National Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 8
World Championships — 1st place, gold medalist(s) 5

References

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  1. ^ "Donnell Whittenburg closes in on stardom, one vault at a time". Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Cheng, Brittany (August 19, 2019). "Gymnast Donnell Whittenburg's tough call helps him to international stage". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Donnell Whittenburg, still chasing an Olympic spot, in hunt at nationals". Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  4. ^ Nick; Zaccardi (October 7, 2014). "China stuns Japan at World Gymnastics Championships; U.S. wins bronze (video)". NBC Sports. NBC. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Donnell Whittenburg". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  6. ^ Graves, Will (June 25, 2021). "Whittenburg making one last stand at US gymnastics trials". Associated Press.
  7. ^ "Biles wins record 10th gold medal at World Championships". USA Gymnastics. November 1, 2015.
  8. ^ "Leyva, Modi, Whittenburg named replacement athletes for 2016 U.S. Olympic Men's Gymnastics Team". USA Gymnastics. June 26, 2016.
  9. ^ "USA wins two event medals at 2017 World Championships". USA Gymnastics. October 7, 2017.
  10. ^ "Juda finishes second all-around at 2021 Senior Pan American Championships, earns additional quota spot for U.S. men at Tokyo Olympic Games". USA Gymnastics. June 5, 2021.
  11. ^ "USA Gymnastics announces men's Olympic team roster for artistic gymnastics". USA Gymnastics. June 27, 2021.
  12. ^ "Donnell Whittenburg wins second at 2022 U.S. Gymnastics Championships". August 21, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  13. ^ "U.S. gymnasts capture 10 medals, including four gold, as Paris World Challenge Cup concludes". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  14. ^ Crumlish, John (July 3, 2024). "Frederick Richard on topping U.S. Olympic Trials: 'I was pretty cool on the inside'". International Gymnast Magazine. Retrieved July 10, 2024.
  15. ^ Campbell, Dylan (August 7, 2025). "EVO Gymnastics Sends Team Members to U.S. Championships". srqmagazine.com. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  16. ^ "Hong commands all-around; Senior National Team and World Champs roster named at Xfinity U.S. Championships". USA Gymnastics. August 9, 2025.
  17. ^ "Quartet of American men advance to Artistic World Championships finals". USA Gymnastics. October 20, 2025.
  18. ^ "Donnell Whittenburg claims first gymnastics world title on 3-medal day for U.S." NBC. October 24, 2025.
  19. ^ "Whittenburg wins first-ever U.S. rings gold; Hoopes, Roberson take bronze on pommel horse and vault at 2025 Artistic Worlds". USA Gymnastics. October 24, 2025.
  20. ^ "Table of Named Elements Men's Artistic Gymnastics" (PDF). gymnastics.sport. December 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  21. ^ "Men's Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points 2025–2028" (PDF). gymnastics.sport. July 3, 2024. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  22. ^ "FIG Men's Technical Committee approves 'The Whittenburg'". gymnastics.sport. June 2, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
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