Jordan Bowers Explained

Jordan Bowers
Fullname:Jordan Bowers
Country: United States
Birth Date:5 April 2003
Hometown:Lincoln, Nebraska USA
Residence:Norman, Oklahoma
Discipline:WAG
Level:NCAA
Natlteam:2018 (USA)
Club:Nebraska
Collegeteam:Oklahoma Sooners (2022–25)
Headcoach:K.J. Kindler
Formercoach:Danelle Catlett
Choreographer:Payton Prall
Show-Medals:yes

Jordan Skylar Bowers (born April 5, 2003) is an American artistic gymnast and was part of the United States women's national gymnastics team. She won the junior all-around gold medals at the 2018 Pacific Rim Championships and the 2018 Junior Pan American Championships. She is currently competing for the Oklahoma Sooners in NCAA gymnastics.

Personal life

Bowers was born to John and Tracy Bowers in 2003, and she has one sibling, a sister named Felicity. She began gymnastics in 2005.[1]

Bowers has been dating Oklahoma Sooners men's gymnastics team member Raydel Gamboa since 2021. The pair announced their engagement in 2024.[2]

Gymnastics career

2016–17

Bowers began competing at the junior elite level in 2016, where she competed at the American classic and the P&G National Championships.

2018

Bowers was officially added to the junior national team after she was named to the team to compete at the 2018 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships alongside seniors Morgan Hurd, Grace McCallum, and Jordan Chiles and fellow juniors Kayla DiCello and Sunisa Lee.[3] There she won gold in the team, junior all-around, and junior floor exercise finals. She won bronze on uneven bars.[4] Bowers later competed at the Pan American Championships alongside Leanne Wong, Tori Tatum, and JaFree Scott from June 13-15 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[5] There the team won gold in the team final and individually Bowers won gold in the all-around, on uneven bars, and on floor exercise. Additionally she won bronze on the balance beam behind Zoé Allaire-Bourgie of Canada and compatriot Wong.[6]

On July 28 Bowers competed at the 2018 U.S. Classic. She finished third in the all-around behind Wong and DiCello after falling twice on floor exercise. She finished second on balance beam and uneven bars.[7] Bowers traveled to Boston to compete in the 2018 U.S. Championships in August. She was one of the favorite to win the title based on her earlier victories in the all-around, but she struggled on the first day with multiple errors and finished in 17th place in the all-around on the first day.[8] Bowers withdrew from the second day of competition, citing an injury sustained during training that had also hampered her on the first day of competition.[9] Because she did not finish in the top six all-around, she was not automatically named to the national team.

2019

In 2019 Bowers became age-eligible for senior level competition. In February she attended the national team camp in hopes of making an international assignment.[10] Just before the camp Bowers re-injured her lower back and it was determined she had a spinal disc herniation and an edema on her vertebrae. She sat out the remainder of the season in order to recover.[11]

On November 2, Bowers announced on Instagram that she had retired from elite gymnastics and would continue training as a level 10 gymnast with the intention of competing at the University of Oklahoma, starting in the 2021–22 season.[12]

2020–21

On November 11, 2020 Bowers signed her National Letter of Intent with the Oklahoma Sooners.[13]

Bowers competed at the 2021 Developmental Program National Championships where she placed third in the all-around in the Senior-E division. Additionally she placed second on balance beam and uneven bars.[14]

Collegiate gymnastics career

2021–2022 season

Bowers made her NCAA debut on January 9 in a meet against Alabama. She competed the all-around, posting the highest score of the day on floor with a 9.925.[15] The following week in a meet against Utah she scored a 9.975 on vault, the highest of the meet. Her all-around score of 39.550 was the second highest behind Grace McCallum. As a result Bowers was named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for the first time.[16] At the 2022 NCAA Championships Bowers helped Oklahoma win the team title. Individually Bowers finished second on floor exercise behind Trinity Thomas.[17]

2022–2023 season

Throughout the season Bowers earned two perfect 10s, one on floor exercise and one on uneven bars. At the Big 12 Championships Bowers helped Oklahoma win the team title. Individually she won the all-around and floor exercise titles and placed third on uneven bars and balance beam. At the 2023 NCAA Championships Bowers once again helped Oklahoma finish first as a team.[18]

2023–2024 season

At the Big 12 Championships Bowers earned three perfect 10 scores, accumulating an all-around total of 39.925, winning her the all-around title. As a team Oklahoma earned a score of 198.950, setting the overall NCAA gymnastics team record.[19] At the 2024 NCAA Championships Bowers alongside teammates Faith Torrez and Katherine LeVasseur suffered mishaps on vault. As a result Oklahoma did not qualify to the Four on the Floor final. However, Bowers still was a co-runner-up on floor exercise behind Aleah Finnegan and a co-third place finisher on the uneven bars.[20]

Bowers was nominated for the Honda Sports Award alongside Haleigh Bryant, Jade Carey, and Leanne Wong; ultimately Bryant won the award.[21]

Career perfect 10.0

SeasonDateEventMeet
2022 March 4, 2022 Vault Oklahoma vs Michigan
2023 February 24, 2023 Floor exercise Oklahoma vs West Virginia
March 30, 2023 Uneven bars Norman Regional Semifinal
2024 February 2, 2024 Oklahoma & Cal @ Arizona State
March 10, 2024 Floor exercise Oklahoma @ Arkansas
March 17, 2024 Oklahoma vs Alabama
March 23, 2024 Vault Big 12 Championships
Uneven bars
Floor exercise

NCAA Regular season ranking

SeasonAll-AroundVaultUneven BarsBalance BeamFloor Exercise
2022 N/A 1st 15th N/A 19th
2023 5th 11th 10th 7th 8th
2024 2nd 5th 1st 13th 2nd

Competitive history

align=center Yearalign=center EventTeamAAVTUBBBFX
Junior
2016 align=left American Classic 8 6
14 21 12 22 10
2017 align=left American Classic 8 8
align=left 32 22 9 41 36
align=left 13 12 7 28 10
2018 align=left
align=left
align=left 7 29
NCAA
2022 align=left Big 12 Championships 10 4
align=left 21 13
2023 align=left Big 12 Championships 5
align=left 14
2024 align=left Big 12 Championships 6
align=left 6 19

Notes and References

  1. https://usagym.org/pages/athletes/athleteListDetail.html?id=463744 "Jordan Bowers"
  2. Web site: Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Gymnastics World Unite To Celebrate Jordan Bowers’ Engagement Post After 2.5 Years of Dating. EssentiallySports. March 25, 2024.
  3. Web site: USA Gymnastics names women's 2018 Pac Rim, Junior Pan Am Championships Teams . April 10, 2018 . . May 15, 2018 . August 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210804180820/https://usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=21549&prog=h . dead .
  4. Web site: USA brings home 29 medals from men's, women's individual event finals . April 29, 2018 . . May 15, 2018 . July 30, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210730074011/https://usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=21807&prog=h . dead .
  5. Web site: Women's National Team Camp begins today at Flip Fest . May 15, 2018 . USA Gymnastics.
  6. Web site: USA, Bowers strike gold at 2018 Junior Pan Am Championships . June 13, 2018 . USA Gymnastics.
  7. Web site: Biles, Wong win all-around titles at 2018 GK U.S. Classic . July 28, 2018 . . July 30, 2018 . July 30, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180730170632/https://usagym.org/pages/post.html?PostID=22335&prog=h . dead .
  8. Web site: MyUSAGym . myusagym.com . 2018-09-02.
  9. News: USA Gymnastics on Twitter . Twitter . 2018-09-02 . en.
  10. Web site: U.S. women's February training camp begins today . February 21, 2019 . USA Gymnastics.
  11. Web site: Right before February national team camp, I injured my lower back for the second time in six months. . https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/B0uHQjRJ3Mf . 2021-12-26 . registration. August 3, 2019 . Instagram.
  12. Web site: Today I am announcing my retirement from elite gymnastics. . https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/B4YI5t5pEmh . 2021-12-26 . registration. November 2, 2019 . Instagram.
  13. Web site: Gymnastics Phenom Bowers Signs with Oklahoma. KOLN. November 11, 2020.
  14. Web site: Trio Of Future Sooners Named To Development National Team. Oklahoma Sooners. May 20, 2021.
  15. Web site: OU women's gymnastics: Third-ranked Sooners top sixth-ranked Alabama in season opener. January 9, 2022. The Oklahoman. Ryan. Aber.
  16. Web site: OU women's gymnastics: Sooners freshmen Jordan Bowers, Danielle Sievers earn Big 12 honors. The Oklahoma Daily. January 18, 2022.
  17. Web site: Oklahoma wins the 2022 NCAA gymnastics national championship. April 16, 2022. National Collegiate Athletic Association.
  18. Web site: Oklahoma repeats as NCAA women's gymnastics champion. April 15, 2023. National Collegiate Athletic Association.
  19. Web site: OU women's gymnastics wins Big 12 Championships with 198.950, sets record with highest score in NCAA history. March 23, 2024. OU Daily.
  20. Web site: Highlights from the 2024 NCAA gymnastics semifinals. April 19, 2024. ESPN.
  21. Web site: Bowers Named Honda Sport Award Finalist. April 22, 2024. Oklahoma Sooners.