Thompson Tough

There aren't many things that will stop Sage Thompson from chasing her dreams. Within the last few years she has had to overcome a lot of adversity, however, there appears to be a continuous theme in her career: never giving up. That's a special promise that she made to her dad, but we'll get to that later.

Sage on floor at JO Nationals.

Best known for her YouTube channel "SuperGymnastSage," Thompson has come a long way since that first YouTube video of her seven year old self doing double backs on the tumble track. She is now fourteen years old and a level 10 gymnast at All American Gymnastics in Utah. That YouTube channel has now garnered over 21,000 subscribers. Her Instagram has even more with over 24,000 followers. For this reason alone, Sage isn't your typical fourteen year old girl.  "It feels good to know that a lot of people enjoy watching me and that people look up to me," she told us. Occasionally she will be approached at meets by fans who want a picture or autograph. "It makes me happy that so many people are interested [in my gymnastics]."

Transformation: Sage at the age of 8 and 14. 

But it wasn't just her raw talent from a young age that caught the world's attention, it was her story. And it was her strength.

When Sage was eleven years old, her father died after an 8 month battle with leukemia. Throughout that journey, gymnastics is what kept her going. "It was something to help me have fun, be distracted and [gave me] friends to talk to," she recalled. "But it could also be really hard."

Sage visiting her dad in the hospital. 

While she knows that her dad is proud of her and always watching over her, there are of course days when she wishes he was here. "It makes me really sad that he can't actually be here watching my meets and helping me with everything in my life," she said. "Like when I decided to do level 10, I wish he was there to help me or I guess approve of [my decision]." Despite the heartbreak, Sage and her three brothers kept pushing forward, using their dad as motivation to not give up. "He didn't want us to give up on our dreams," she told us. "He had my mom promise to not let us give up."

And that she hasn't.

Sage's first meet as a level 10 was dedicated to her dad. All the gymnasts wore orange ribbons in their hair, the color associated with leukemia awareness. The judges and coaches wore a leukemia ribbon pinned to their shirt in his honor.

Sage continued to train hard in pursuit of her goals. For the longest time, she had her sights set on going elite. In 2015 she qualified to HOPES pre-elite after a strong performance at a developmental camp and later passed the compulsory testing for junior elite. Trying to qualify elite while working through injuries was challenging, but Sage was determined not to let anything set her back. "I trained through it all and did whatever I could." she said. Doing whatever she could even meant tumbling with one arm when she broke her wrist. That not only takes talent, but extreme dedication as well. (Check out some clips of Sage training with one arm down below. It's pretty impressive!)



Eventually Sage began to have on-going hip problems that forced her to reconsider her elite aspirations. "Training elite kept making it worse and causing overcompensation injuries in other areas," she explained. "That's why I had to cut my repetitions way back and water down my routines in order to start to heal and still be able to compete level 10."

Earlier this year, Sage decided to forgo attempting to pass her elite optionals, despite having already passed compulsories. She officially decided to shift her focus towards having a successful JO career and earning a college scholarship. So far, it's a decision that she's content with. "I'm a lot happier with JO than I was training for elite. With constantly fighting injuries it was always stressful."

Sage on bars at JO Nationals.

The 2017 season was short but sweet for Sage. She only competed once before the State Championships, where she took first on vault and in the all-around. A few weeks later she became the Regional all-around and floor champion. Her performances qualified her to her first JO National Championships where she finished 17th in the nation, a result she wasn't exactly thrilled about. "I was a little bit upset about Nationals because I got my lowest score of the season," she explained. "I hit everything but I made a few little mistakes that kept me from placing in the top five." (Click here to watch Sage's routines from Nationals.)

Not being 100% satisfied with her performance only leaves Sage with more ambition to achieve her goals in the future. She now has her sights set on winning the all-around title at Nationals, scoring a perfect 10, and hitting a score of 39 (Her career high right now is a 38.350). She is also looking into several colleges and plans to hopefully do some visits this summer. Right now she's interested in Utah, Oklahoma, UCLA. Michigan, LSU, Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

Sage with her friend and former teammate MaKenna Merrell, who is now a gymnast at Utah.

Sage continues to be an inspiration to many because of her perseverance and strength. Despite losing her dad and dealing with many injuries in her young career, she keeps an optimistic outlook on life."It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you're going through something hard," she admitted. "I've been thrown a lot of curve balls. My life and gymnastics career hasn't been what I thought or dreamed it would be." However, at the end of the day, Sage is able to acknowledge that this journey has only made her stronger. "As I get older I can look back and find the good in all of the hard times and be okay with where I am," she said. "I am excited about my future and what I can still accomplish and work towards."

Not only is Sage mature, but she is wise beyond her years. When asked what advice she would give to younger gymnasts, she offered some insight from her own struggles. "I would say not to get stuck in one hard phase of life because it's just a phase. Push through because there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, even if it's not exactly what you thought it would be."

With another competition season in the books, Sage is back in the gym and continuing to work hard. One thing's for sure, she won't be giving up anytime soon.