Classroom and National Champion
Elite athlete and COH student Kaden Brown excels for USA Gymnastics
By Sarah Shebek
Kaden Brown flips out all the time.
Fortunately, his flips are the kind that leave many competitive gymnasts in awe. Brown is a world-class tumbling athlete and silver medalist at the most recent World Championships with USA Gymnastics.
He’s been on the trampoline and tumbling national team since 2015 and he’s also the 4-time U.S. tumbling champion. But Brown knows he’ll eventually reach the end of his athletic career, so he’s focused on a degree with the Department of Athletic Training as his next step.
“It’s been really cool to see how much gymnastics impacted my athletic life and my academic life—it’s shifted my career path,” he said. “I have a few years left of being an athlete, but eventually I want to care for athletes in the ways my athletic trainers care for me.”
Since he was an energetic but shy kid, Brown’s parents enrolled him in taekwondo, where he excelled. But after he got his black belt, he got bored of the sport. There was one part he loved though, the flipping. Naturally, gymnastics seemed like the next step, and it didn’t take long before he started competing on a national level.
“I started at age 10 and fell in love with it,” he said. “I started competing shortly after and made my first world’s team in 2014. I scare my parents a lot, but they’re very proud of me.”
Brown is a Utah native who attended Herriman High. Although he’s traveled the world for competitions, he’s known since middle school that he wanted to attend the University of Utah.
“At first I wanted to do engineering, but as my elite career started to take off, I got really interested in the health field,” he said. “I started seeing the athletic trainers more and I fell in love with the profession. I knew it was exactly what I wanted to do.”
Admittedly, it’s not easy balancing the demands of elite gymnastics and a full-time master’s program. But as Brown earned his undergraduate degree and moved on to his athletic training coursework, he’s been supported every step of the way.
“I haven’t run into a professor who wasn’t willing to work with me,” he said. “I had to leave for two weeks for the World competition and that was extremely stressful, but they set up Zooms and helped me get all the information. I can’t thank them enough.”
Before he retires and moves on to a career in athletic training, Brown has one more big goal. He wants to win the World Games in 2025. Then he plans to work in gymnastics and help the next generation of athletes stay in top form.
“I have goals I want to achieve both athletically and academically and I’ve put everything into it,” he said. “If you put your mind to it, you can do it. It’s tough, but it’s doable.”
