(KRON) — An East Bay native achieved true “greatness” this October when he became the most decorated American trampoline and tumbling athlete, USA Gymnastics officials announced Friday.
Ruben Padilla, 24, competes in a sport that lets him fly without wings.
USA Gymnastics wrote on social media Friday, “Witnessing greatness. After back-to-back medal-winning weekends, @ruben1padilla1 has tallied a total of 23 World Cup & World Championship medals; becoming the most decorated T&T athlete in USAG history. (And) he’s still going! He passes Kalon Ludvigson, who amassed 20 World Cup & World Championship medals over his storied career!”
USA Gymnastics reported that during last weekend’s 2025 Antibes World Cup, “The U.S. delegation came up big in France. Ruben Padilla and Aliaksei Shostak going 1-2 in men’s individual trampoline, and Ryan Maccagnan securing synchronized trampoline gold with Padilla. Padilla was doubly golden in France, putting up a huge 19.900 difficultly score to claim the individual trampoline title with a total of 62.200 and topping the men’s synchro podium with partner Maccagnan with a 53.580.”
Padilla started out jumping like most young children do — on a trampoline in the backyard of his Oakley home. After his mother threw the trampoline away, Padilla continued catapulting himself from every high surface he could find. So his mom brought him to an East Bay gymnastics training center at age 6.
Padilla perfected the art of leaping, tumbling, and flipping 30 feet into the air as a teenager with coaches at Four Stars Gymnastics Academy in Antioch.
KRON4 interviewed Padilla when he was 18-years-old, fresh out of high school, and on the road to the Olympic Games for Team USA.
Today, he is a four-time World Champion, 13-time World Championships medalist, 8-time national champion, 10-time World Cup medalist, and two-time Pan American Games medalist. In 2024, Padilla was an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Team, and in 2023, he was Pan American Games synchro champion.
Padilla shared videos of his most recent competitions on Instagram.
When he’s not traveling the world winning medals, Padilla trains with Wasatch Trampoline & Tumbling in Utah.
