Taeja James

English artistic gymnast (born 2002)

Taeja James
Full nameTaeja Nicole James
Born (2002-10-15) 15 October 2002 (age 23)
Nottingham, England[1]
Gymnastics career
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Country
represented
 Great Britain
 England
ClubNotts Gymnastics Academy City of Birmingham (formerly)
Head coach(es)Jodie Kime, Lee Woolls
Medal record
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gold Coast Team

Taeja Nicole James (born 15 October 2002) is an English artistic gymnast. She won a silver medal in the team event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and competed at the 2018 European Championships and the 2019 World Championships. As a junior she won a silver medal with the British team at the 2016 Junior European Championships.

Junior gymnastics career

2016

James won the silver medal in the junior all-around at the 2016 British Championships.[2] She then competed at the 2016 Junior European Championships and helped the British team win the silver medal behind Russia.[3] At the 2016 Elite Gym Massilia, she won the silver medal on the floor exercise behind Anastasia Ilyankova.[4]

2017

James won the junior all-around title at the 2017 British Championships despite falling off the beam.[5] She then finished fifth in the all-around at the 2017 European Youth Olympic Festival.[6]

Senior gymnastics career

2018

James became age-eligible for senior competitions in 2018. She won the vault bronze medal and the floor exercise silver medal at the 2018 British Championships.[7] At 15 years and 6 months old, James was the youngest athlete representing England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[1] She was not originally selected for the team but was brought in to replace the injured Amy Tinkler.[8] While there, she helped England win the team silver medal.[9] She qualified for the floor exercise final in first place, but she stepped out of bounds twice in the final and finished seventh.[8] She then competed with the British team that finished fourth at the 2018 European Championships.[10]

2019

James finished eighth in the all-around at the 2019 British Championships. In the event finals, she won a bronze medal on the floor exercise and finished fifth on the balance beam.[11] She helped Great Britain finish sixth at the 2019 World Championships.[12]

2025

After a 5-year break from gymnastics, James teased her return on Instagram. She trialled for the 2025 World Championships, where she was named as a non-travelling reserve.[13] She made her return to competition at the 2025 British Team Championships, where Notts Gymnastics Academy came second and individually James placed third on vault, second on balance beam and fourth on floor.

Competition history

Competitive history of Taeja James at the junior level
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2014 English Championships 7
2016 International Gymnix 7 26
British Team Championships 6
English Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
British Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 7 6 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Züri Gym Days 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Italian Junior Friendly 1st place, gold medalist(s) 6
European Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 86
Olympic Hopes Cup 7 5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Elite Gym Massilia 8 5 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
2017 British Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
English Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s)
European Youth Olympic Festival 5 5
British Team Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Competitive history of Taeja James at the senior level
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2018 English Championships 8
British Championships 16 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Doha World Cup 6
Commonwealth Games 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7
European Championships 4
British Team Championships 20 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 English Championships 68
British Championships 8 5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
British Team Championships 4 6 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships 6
2025 British Team Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4

References

  1. ^ a b "Taeja James Gymnastics". Team England. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  2. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (8 April 2016). "2016 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  3. ^ Browne, Lesley (8 June 2016). "Megan Parker and Taeja James fly the flag for Birmingham in Europe". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  4. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (11 November 2016). "2016 Elite Gym Massilia Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  5. ^ "Birmingham's Taeja James crowned Junior Women's All-Around British Champion". British Gymnastics. 24 March 2017. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  6. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (27 July 2017). "2017 European Youth Olympic Festival Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  7. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (12 March 2018). "2018 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Nottingham's Taeja James 'can be one of the top gymnasts in the world'". Nottingham Post. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  9. ^ "Nottingham's newest gymnastics star Taeja James 'must be so proud' to win Commonwealth Games silver, says Becky Downie". Nottingham Post. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  10. ^ "European Championships 2018: GB fourth in women's team gymnastics final". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  11. ^ Hopkins, Lauren (18 March 2019). "2019 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  12. ^ "British women's team 6th in world final". British Gymnastics. 8 October 2019. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  13. ^ "GB team set for Jakarta gymnastics World Championships". www.british-gymnastics.org. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
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