Tristan Styles wins gold at World Trampoline Championships

A Tasmanian teenager is still pinching himself after becoming the state’s first world champion in gymnastics.

Back on home soil after becoming Tasmania’s first ever gymnastics World Champion, Tristan Styles had to overcome much more than just a talented worldwide field to make history.

The 18 year-old from Hobart made history last month, winning gold in the Double Mini event at the World Trampoline Championships in Birmingham

Competing in the Men’s 17-21 category, Styles sat in fourth place after the qualifying round but produced two incredible passes in the final to emerge victorious.

Tasmanian Tristan Styles won gold in the Double-Mini event at the 2023 World Trampoline Championships in Birmingham in November. Picture: Facebook.

It was an outstanding achievement from the talented teenager who had to recover from an ankle injury sustained in the first-half of 2023 to just make it to England.

“To represent Australia was amazing, but to win gold was very unexpected,” Styles said.

“I started off the year with a pretty big injury so to see the dedication to my recovery and training pay off was probably the most pleasing thing (about winning).

“The injury happened at a state championships in March. I was competing and landed really short and tore a few ligaments in my left ankle. The recovery was six months but it took a little bit longer as we didn’t know the severity at the start and I kept training through it.

“It’s been a reoccurring problem for a while now but it’s okay enough to train and compete on it.”

Styles represented Australia in a team of around 50 athletes, including three others from Tasmania, with the Birmingham event his second world championships in a row.

Tasmanian Tristan Styles celebrates his gold medal win in the Double-Mini event at the 2023 World Trampoline Championships in Birmingham in November. Picture: Facebook.

“It was the best Australia has ever gone in terms of medals (finishing second overall),” Styles said.

“I competed in Bulgaria last year and finished eighth so to improve on that like I did was really special.”

While he admits being a world champion still hasn’t quite sunk in, Styles said being able to share the moment with a few of his biggest supporters is something he will remember forever.

“It’s a feeling I don’t think I can put into words. It felt so surreal,” he said.

“I was still pinching myself a few days after but I was really glad I could share it with my coach, Alison Morgan, and also my parents and grandparents.

“I feel like there is this stigma around Tassie and the lack of opportunity but I think it shows we are just as competitive as every other state in Australia and every other country in the world.”