Nile Wilson - Gymnasts, Life Achievements and Family

Nile Wilson was born in Leeds, England on 17 January, 1996 to Neil and Sally Wilson. He was raised along with his younger sister, Joanna, who also happens to be a gymnastic enthusiast and a national level player.

While he was a kid, Nile wasn’t really interested in the sport. In fact, he later admitted that he was a very clumsy kid and that his attitude would often cause his parents to worry about his future. His clumsiness also had him injured on several occasions that led to some permanent scars.

In order to make him cope with his clumsiness and to make him handle himself in a better way, his parents enrolled him at a gymnastics class and that was when he developed an interest towards the sport.

His coaches saw some potential in him and started working with him. They pushed him hard by making him spend more number of hours in training as they wanted him to polish his skills before the 2004 Olympics.

But at the age of 10, he hit a roadblock when he injured his elbow, due to which he was depressed for a long period of time. When he finally got better, he started training harder and eventually became the best gymnast in the academy. And thus began his journey, with the British Junior Championship being his first major opportunity to show the world what he was capable of.

In March 2014, Nile participated in the British Junior Championship and emerged as a winner. The Leeds sports academy also honored him with the Young Sportsman Male award for his magnificent performance in the tournament.

In the same year, he participated in the European Junior Championship and made a name for himself by winning five gold medals. This performance of his gained him a spot in the national team for the Commonwealth Games that was just around the corner. In order to perform well in the tournament, Nile started working hard, spending most of his time training.

Nile was now being recognized as a senior player and at the Commonwealth Games he played a major role in making his team win a gold medal. In the individual category, he won four medals including a couple of gold medals and one each in silver and bronze. Events pertaining to the horizontal bar proved to be his stronghold and he still happens to be the reigning Commonwealth champion in the category.

2014 turned out to be a wonderful year for Nile as he rose to national fame, thanks to his solid performances throughout the events that he had participated in. Next major event, the Gymnastics World Championship 2015, gave Nile another major opportunity to prove his worth.

But unfortunately, he couldn’t repeat his Commonwealth performance as he missed out on winning individual medals. However, he did play a crucial role in helping his team win a silver medal. Some of the complex rules of the event kept him from winning any major medals and he straightaway knew that he needed to work harder to leave an impression in bigger tournaments.

The most important year of his career was fast approaching as Nile’s biggest dream ever since he started practicing gymnastics was to win an Olympic medal for his country. The 2016 Olympics presented him with an opportunity to realize his dream. Thus he trained harder and in order to prepare himself for the event, he participated in the AT&T American Cup in March 2016.

But he did not perform well and struggled throughout the competition which came across as a major blow. He was ranked fifth with a decent performance on the parallel bars, which wasn’t even his forte.

With only two months left for the Olympics, he further intensified his training and hoped for a spot in the national team. Since he had had a poor run in the recently concluded tournaments, he wasn’t sure if he would earn himself a spot in the national team.

However, he was named as one of the team members of the English team to represent the country in Gymnastics. He relished the opportunity and performed exceptionally well at the Olympics. Although he missed a gold or silver medal, an Olympic bronze was as good as anything else for the young athlete. By winning the medal, he became the first ever British gymnast to reach that far in Olympics in the horizontal bar category.

The next event on his radar was the 2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship. This time around, he wanted to bring home a gold medal. However, he suffered an injury while training and that threatened his chances of even showing up for the event. He even underwent a surgery as part of his treatment.

But Nile, being a fighter, recovered in time and was all set to participate in the tournament. But despite trying hard, he couldn’t come up with his best performance. He finished sixth at the end of the championship.

Nile Wilson started dating Sophie Brewster during the peak of his career in 2014. Their relationship went from strength to strength with Nile even expressing his love for her on several occasions through his social media accounts. But lately, rumors regarding their break up have surfaced but nothing has been confirmed yet.

Nile has been very close to his younger sister, Joanna, who is well on her way to becoming a world-class gymnast. She has said in interviews that she looks up to her brother for inspiration.

He also happens to be very close to his parents and says that they supported him through everything and have never pressurized him into doing anything he doesn’t want.