Meet the Powerhouse: Jade Carey’s Rise to Gymnastics Stardom
Jade Carey is a two-time American Olympic artistic gymnast who has become one of the most decorated athletes in U.S. gymnastics history. Born on May 27, 2000, in Phoenix, Arizona, she’s the 2020 Olympic champion on floor exercise, a 2024 Olympic team champion, and holds an impressive collection of World Championship medals.
Quick Facts About Jade Carey:
- Olympic Medals: 3 total (2 Gold, 1 Bronze)
- World Championship Medals: 7 total (3 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze)
- Historic Achievement: 6th most decorated U.S. female gymnast of all time
- NCAA Excellence: Completed a rare ‘Gym Slam’ with 11 perfect 10.0 scores
- Specialty Events: Vault and Floor Exercise
- College: Oregon State University (Digital Communications Arts major)
What makes Jade’s story particularly inspiring is her unconventional path to elite gymnastics. Unlike many gymnasts who follow the traditional Hopes/Junior Elite route, Jade made the leap directly from Level 10 to senior elite competition in 2016. “My parents owned a gym when I was born so I was always in the gym playing!” she shared, explaining how her gymnastics journey began at just two years old.
Her father, Brian Carey, has served as both her coach and biggest supporter throughout her career. This unique father-daughter, coach-athlete dynamic has guided her through multiple Olympic Games, World Championships, and a successful NCAA career at Oregon State University.
From achieving perfect scores across all four gymnastics events in college to standing atop Olympic podiums, Jade Carey represents the perfect blend of power, precision, and perseverance that defines elite athletics.
Basic jade carey vocab:
The Making of a Champion: From Gym-Kid to Elite Star
Picture this: while most toddlers are learning to walk steadily, Jade Carey was tumbling around a gymnastics facility in Phoenix, Arizona. Born on May 27, 2000, to Brian and Danielle Carey, Jade’s story begins in the most natural way possible for a future Olympic champion – her parents owned their own gymnastics gym
At just two years old, Jade wasn’t taking formal gymnastics lessons – she was simply playing in what would become her professional arena. Balance beams became jungle gyms, floor mats turned into trampolines, and the vault table was just another piece of playground equipment. This early exposure gave her something most gymnasts can only dream of: complete comfort in a gymnastics environment from the very beginning.
While her peers were following the traditional path through the Hopes division and junior elite levels, Jade Carey had other plans. In 2016, she made a bold leap directly from Level 10 to senior elite competition. This unconventional route speaks volumes about her natural talent and the focused training she received at home.
The decision paid off spectacularly. After graduating from Mountain Ridge High School in 2018, Jade’s achievements were so remarkable that she was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in January 2024. Not bad for someone who took the road less traveled in gymnastics!
Her journey from gym-kid to elite star wasn’t just about talent – it was about having the right support system and the courage to forge her own path. For more details about her incredible journey, you can visit her profile on the official USA Gymnastics site.
The Unique Father-Daughter, Coach-Athlete Dynamic
One of the most fascinating aspects of Jade Carey‘s career is the dual role her father, Brian Carey, has played in her life. Imagine having your dad as your coach – it sounds like it could be either a recipe for success or a family disaster, right?
For the Careys, it’s been nothing short of magical. Brian Carey has been Jade’s primary coach throughout her entire gymnastics career, guiding her through every twist, turn, and triple-twisting layout. Their training base at Arizona Sunrays became more than just a gym – it was their family business, their second home, and the foundation of their incredible partnership.
This father-daughter, coach-athlete dynamic requires a special kind of family support and emotional intelligence. In the gym, Brian is Coach Carey – focused, demanding, and pushing Jade to reach her full potential. Outside the gym, he’s simply Dad – offering hugs, encouragement, and unconditional love.
The key to their success lies in their ability to balance these roles seamlessly. During training sessions, Jade respects Brian’s coaching authority completely. After practice, they can switch back to their natural father-daughter relationship without missing a beat. This unique arrangement has allowed them to take their journey together from local competitions all the way to Olympic podiums.
Not every family could handle this kind of dual relationship, but for the Careys, it’s been the secret ingredient in creating one of gymnastics’ most successful partnerships. Their story proves that sometimes the best coaching comes from someone who believes in you unconditionally – both as an athlete and as a person.
The Elite Gymnastics Career of Jade Carey
Jade Carey‘s elite gymnastics career reads like a masterclass in determination and excellence. As a powerhouse member of Team USA, she has consistently delivered breathtaking performances on the world’s biggest stages, particularly dominating her signature events of vault and floor exercise.
Her medal collection tells an incredible story of success. With 3 Olympic medals (2 gold, 1 bronze) and 7 World Championship medals (3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze), Jade Carey has earned her place as the sixth most decorated U.S. female gymnast of all time. This achievement becomes even more remarkable when you consider the incredible depth of talent in American gymnastics history.
Her journey through elite competition has included standout performances at multiple U.S. Championships, World Cup Series events, and the Pan American Championships, where she captured three gold medals in 2018 across team, vault, and floor exercise. What sets Jade Carey apart is her strategic approach to competition. She made the bold decision to pursue individual Olympic qualification through the apparatus World Cup series, showcasing her individual prowess while keeping her eyes firmly fixed on her ultimate Olympic dreams.
Olympic Glory: Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024
The Olympic Games represent the pinnacle of athletic achievement, and Jade Carey has graced this stage twice, each time leaving her mark on gymnastics history.
Her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021) was a rollercoaster of emotions and triumph. After facing challenges in the vault final, where a misstep on the runway affected her score, she bounced back with incredible resilience. Just days later, she delivered a stunning floor exercise routine that earned her the gold medal with a score of 14.366. This victory was the culmination of years of dedication and proved her ability to perform under the most intense pressure. She also competed in the all-around final, finishing eighth overall.
Paris 2024 brought a completely different Olympic experience for Jade Carey. She played a crucial role in Team USA’s gold medal victory in the team all-around, demonstrating her consistency and power when it mattered most. She also added a bronze medal in the vault final to her collection, proving her continued excellence on her signature event.
The contrast between the two Olympics was striking. Unlike the pandemic-restricted Tokyo Games, Paris offered what she had hoped for: “Having a more normal Olympic experience would be really cool, just to have fans in the arena and things like that.” The energy from the crowds and the opportunity to connect with fellow athletes from around the world made the experience truly special.
You can still watch her powerful performances, like her 2024 U.S. Championships Vault. And speaking of maintaining peak performance, even elite athletes like Jade Carey understand the importance of wellness routines. Check out how other top performers prioritize their well-being in our article, Inside the Wellness Routines of Your Favorite Celebs.
Dominance at the World Championships
The World Championships have been where Jade Carey has truly built her legacy, earning seven medals across multiple competitions. These events bring together the world’s best gymnasts, making every medal a testament to her exceptional skill and consistency.
Her World Championship journey began in 2017 with silver medals on both vault and floor exercise, immediately announcing her arrival as a force to be reckoned with. The following year in 2018, she added another silver on floor exercise, solidifying her reputation as one of the world’s premier floor workers.
2019 marked a breakthrough year when she helped Team USA capture the team gold medal while also earning individual silver on vault. This team victory was particularly meaningful, as it showcased her ability to contribute to the squad’s success while maintaining her individual excellence.
But it was 2022 that truly belonged to Jade Carey at the World Championships. She dominated the competition, earning gold medals in both team and vault, while also taking bronze on floor exercise. Her individual vault gold was especially satisfying, as it confirmed her status as the world’s best on the apparatus.
These consistent World Championship performances, spanning multiple years and different competitive cycles, demonstrate Jade Carey‘s remarkable longevity and ability to perform at the highest level when it matters most.
What are Jade Carey’s Signature Skills?
When you watch Jade Carey compete, two things immediately stand out: her incredible power and remarkable precision. She’s built her reputation as a specialist on vault and floor exercise, where her explosive abilities truly shine.
On vault, Jade Carey performs some of the most challenging skills in the sport. Her repertoire includes the Cheng vault (a round-off half-on, front layout half-off) and the Amanar (a Yurchenko with 2.5 twists). These vaults require immense power, perfect timing, and incredible courage. Her impact on the sport extends beyond elite competition too – she has a vault skill named after her in the Junior Olympic code of points, simply called “The Carey.” Having a skill named after you is one of the highest honors in gymnastics!
Floor exercise is where Jade Carey‘s artistry and power come together most beautifully. She’s known for her spectacular tumbling passes, including the double-double layout (two twists performed in a layout position) and the incredibly difficult triple-twisting double layout, also known as the Moors. These are among the most challenging tumbling skills in women’s gymnastics, requiring extraordinary strength, air awareness, and control.
What makes her performances so captivating is how she makes these incredibly difficult skills look effortless. Her ability to combine such high-level difficulty with consistency and grace is what separates elite gymnasts from the rest. It’s no wonder that floor exercise is her favorite event – it’s where her unique combination of power, precision, and personality truly comes alive.
A Beaver Believer: Conquering the NCAA World
After conquering the Olympic stage, most elite gymnasts hang up their leotards and move on to the next chapter of their lives. But Jade Carey had different plans. She decided to trade her Team USA gear for orange and black, becoming a proud member of the Oregon State Beavers gymnastics team.
This wasn’t always part of her plan. “If you asked me a few years ago if this is something I would do, I probably would have said no,” Jade admitted. But something about the college experience called to her. Maybe it was the chance to have teammates her own age, or the opportunity to pursue her Digital Communications Arts degree, or simply the desire for a taste of “normal” college life.
The timing worked out perfectly with the new NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rules in collegiate athletics. These changes allowed elite athletes like Jade Carey to maintain their competitive edge while also building their personal brand and pursuing higher education. It was a win-win situation that wouldn’t have been possible just a few years earlier.
What makes Jade’s college experience even more unique is that she completed all her courses virtually. She never took a single in-person class, yet she fully acceptd the Beaver spirit. Despite her Olympic fame, she kept things low-key, living in a modest apartment without visible trophies and genuinely enjoying bonding with teammates and cheering on other OSU sports. She truly became a “Beaver Believer” in every sense of the word.
The Rare ‘Gym Slam’ and a Flurry of Perfect 10s
In NCAA gymnastics, achieving a ‘Gym Slam’ is like finding a four-leaf clover – incredibly rare and absolutely magical. A Gym Slam means scoring a perfect 10.0 on all four apparatuses: Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, and Floor Exercise. Jade Carey joined this exclusive club in 2023, becoming only the 13th NCAA gymnast in history to accomplish this feat.
But Jade didn’t just stop at one perfect score per event. She collected perfect 10s like they were going out of style, racking up an incredible 11 perfect scores throughout her collegiate career. Her journey to the Gym Slam included a 10.0 on Uneven Bars on February 5, 2022, followed by perfect scores on both Vault and Floor Exercise on January 14, 2023, and finally completing the slam with a 10.0 on Balance Beam on March 4, 2023.
These weren’t just random moments of brilliance either. Jade’s consistency was off the charts, holding a program-record 117 career event titles and claiming the 14 highest all-around scores in Oregon State program history. She even broke her own record twice in 2023, proving that excellence was just another day at the office for this Olympic champion.
Her collegiate best scores tell the whole story: 10.000 on every single event and an all-around score of 39.875. It’s the kind of dominance that makes you wonder if she was playing by different rules than everyone else.
You can dive deeper into her impressive NCAA statistics and achievements at Learn more about her NCAA career at OSU.
How Jade Carey Balanced Two Demanding Careers
Imagine trying to speak two different languages fluently at the same time – that’s essentially what Jade Carey did when she balanced elite and collegiate gymnastics. The elite international code rewards difficulty and risk-taking, while the NCAA code prizes execution and artistry. It’s like being a gymnast and a dancer simultaneously.
The 2020 Olympics postponement actually created a unique opportunity for Jade. Instead of retiring after Tokyo, she had extra time to prepare for both her remaining elite goals and her collegiate debut. This meant training for two completely different scoring systems while managing the physical and mental demands of both.
Her approach to time management was nothing short of impressive. Between rigorous training sessions, travel for competitions at both levels, and a full academic load, Jade’s schedule would make most people’s heads spin. The flexibility of virtual classes certainly helped, but it still required incredible discipline and organization.
What’s fascinating is how differently Jade Carey handled the college experience compared to other Olympic champions who went the NCAA route. While some struggled with the transition from elite fame to college life, Jade seemed to thrive in the more relaxed atmosphere at Oregon State. Her maturity, modest personality, and the university’s low-key culture all contributed to a positive experience.
The timing of her college career also benefited from the post-COVID expansion of virtual learning options, making it easier for elite athletes to pursue both paths. This opened doors that previous generations of gymnasts never had.
Balancing these two demanding careers showcased not just her athletic abilities, but her incredible mental strength and planning skills. It’s a reminder that success often comes down to smart choices and unwavering commitment. Speaking of staying committed to your goals while managing a busy schedule, we at Beyond Beauty Lab know the struggle! Check out What’s in a Celeb’s Gym Bag: Fitness Beauty Essentials for tips on staying fresh and fabulous no matter how packed your day gets.
Frequently Asked Questions about Jade Carey
After diving deep into Jade Carey‘s incredible journey from a two-year-old playing in her parents’ gym to becoming one of the most decorated gymnasts in U.S. history, you might still have some burning questions. Let’s address the most common ones that fans and gymnastics enthusiasts ask about this remarkable athlete.
Who is Jade Carey?
Jade Carey is a powerhouse in gymnastics who has captured hearts and medals on both the Olympic and collegiate stages. Born on May 27, 2000, in Phoenix, Arizona, she’s a two-time American Olympic artistic gymnast who made history as the 2020 Olympic champion on floor exercise and helped Team USA secure the team gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
But her achievements extend far beyond the Olympic arena. She’s a multiple-time World Championship medalist with an impressive collection of hardware, and she’s made quite the splash in NCAA gymnastics as well. At Oregon State University, where she studies Digital Communications Arts, Jade Carey accomplished something truly special – she achieved the rare ‘Gym Slam’ by scoring a perfect 10.0 on all four gymnastics apparatuses. This feat puts her in an exclusive club of only 13 NCAA gymnasts in history to accomplish this milestone.
What are Jade Carey’s biggest achievements?
When it comes to Jade Carey‘s accomplishments, the list is genuinely jaw-dropping. Her Olympic performances alone are enough to cement her legacy – she claimed gold in floor exercise at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and was instrumental in Team USA’s team gold victory at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she also snagged a bronze medal on vault.
Her World Championship success is equally impressive. She’s a three-time World Champion, earning gold medals with Team USA in both 2019 and 2022, plus an individual gold on vault in 2022. When you add up all her major international medals, Jade Carey has collected 3 Olympic medals and 7 World Championship medals, making her the sixth most decorated U.S. female gymnast of all time – a truly remarkable achievement considering the incredible depth of talent in American gymnastics.
The collegiate side of her career has been equally spectacular. Her completion of the ‘Gym Slam’ in 2023 was a historic moment, and throughout her NCAA career, she’s racked up an astounding 11 perfect 10.0 scores. She holds the program record with 117 career event titles and owns the 14 highest all-around scores in Oregon State program history.
How did Jade Carey get into gymnastics?
Jade Carey‘s path into gymnastics was about as natural as it gets. She started gymnastics at just two years old, but this wasn’t because her parents were pushy sports parents with big dreams. Instead, it happened organically because her parents, Brian and Danielle Carey, owned a gymnastics facility in Phoenix, Arizona.
As Jade herself has explained, “My parents owned a gym when I was born so I was always in the gym playing!” This unique situation meant that gymnastics equipment and training weren’t foreign concepts – they were literally her playground from the moment she could walk.
What makes her story even more special is that her father, Brian, has served as her primary coach throughout her entire career. This father-daughter, coach-athlete relationship has been the foundation of her success, guiding her from those early days of “playing” in the gym to standing atop Olympic podiums. It’s a testament to the power of family support and the importance of having someone who believes in your potential from day one.
Conclusion
The remarkable journey of Jade Carey reads like a masterclass in what happens when raw talent meets unwavering dedication. From those early days as a toddler tumbling around her parents’ gym in Phoenix to claiming her place among the most decorated gymnasts in U.S. history, her story is one of resilience, power, and incredible versatility.
What makes Jade Carey‘s legacy so compelling isn’t just the impressive medal count – though her 3 Olympic medals and 7 World Championship medals certainly speak volumes. It’s the way she’s redefined what’s possible in modern gymnastics. She showed us that an athlete can excel at the highest levels of elite competition while simultaneously conquering the NCAA world with 11 perfect 10.0 scores and a rare Gym Slam.
Her ability to balance these two demanding careers demonstrates a level of discipline and mental fortitude that extends far beyond the gymnasium. Whether she was training for two different codes of points or managing virtual classes while competing internationally, Jade approached each challenge with the same methodical precision that made her vault and floor routines so captivating.
The father-daughter coaching dynamic with Brian Carey also reminds us that success often comes from the strongest support systems. Their partnership proves that when family, passion, and professional excellence align, extraordinary things can happen.
As we celebrate athletes like Jade Carey, we’re reminded that true wellness encompasses not just physical strength, but mental resilience, adaptability, and the courage to pursue multiple dreams simultaneously. Her grounded approach to fame and her genuine joy in both elite and collegiate competition show us that authentic success comes from staying true to yourself while continuously pushing boundaries.
For more insights into living a balanced and fulfilling life that mirrors the discipline and self-care practices of elite athletes, explore our comprehensive guide: The Ultimate Guide to Wellness and Well-Being.
