The Voorhees Sun
Professional gymnast and Eastern High School alumnus Brandon Wynn recently competed in the Pro Gymnastics Challenge, which aired on ESPN2 on May 22.
According to the PGC, it is a skill-for-skill competition with teams consisting of both men and women squaring off against each other for true athletic supremacy. There is offense and defense; the team on the offensive performs a skill or sequence of skills after which the defensive team attempts to do that skill or sequence of skills better. Referees determine the winner and the winning team gains the point or points and offensive control. In the event of a tie, the audience votes to decide the winner. On each event, the winning team is the first one to 10 points, excluding the speed ropes, which are a time challenge.
“It’s cool and unique and something we’ve never done before,” Wynn said.
Wynn generally competes in all the skills, however rings are his favorite.
He has been a gymnast for 17 years, and following PGC, he will be preparing for Worlds, which will eventually lead to the Olympics.
According to the PGC website, coaching the USA team was 2008 Olympic Gold All-Around Champion Nastia Liukin. Other Olympic notables competing were 2008 Silver and Bronze medalist Jonathon Horton, 2012 Olympic team member Jacob Dalton, 2008 Olympic team Silver medalist Chellsie Memmel and six-time Olympian Oksana Chusovitina from Uzbekistan.
Though he was able to compete for fun with PGC, Wynn takes the sport seriously, with his eyes on the prize.
“There’s never any downtime or offseason, it’s just concentrating with that [the Olympics] in mind,” Wynn said.
Wynn trains for about five hours a day, practicing skills, flexibility and routines. Though he’s graduated from Ohio State, he won’t have any time for a full-time job.
According to his website, he is the co-owner of TW Enterprises, LLC, a fitness development, fitness equipment development/production and consulting effort, a technical athletic advisor and business development assistant for Attain Your Vision, LLC, and a motivational speaker for developing, promoting, communicating and marketing and the overall value and development of fitness and gymnastics, in addition to numerous other ventures.
“It’s about the work, there’s no way you can reach these goals without the work,” Wynn said. “It’s well thought out, you know you’re going to get from A to B with the plan. If you’re consistent, you’re going to be the best.”
Wynn watched the most recent Olympics, in which he had friends compete. He knows the journey from Worlds to the Olympics is a long journey, but he remains determined.
“I think that’s everyone’s goal. You want to reach the pinnacle of what you do. Everybody is striving for that,” he said.
For more information on PGC, visit www.professionalgymnastics.com. For more on Brandon Wynn, visit www.brandonwynn.net.
