Sam Mikulak

American gymnast Sam Mikulak won multiple medals in his sport at the collegiate level before capturing four consecutive World Championships in all-around between 2013 and 2016. Born Samuel Anthony Mikulak on October 13, 1992 in Corona del Mar, California, he was the son of Stephen Mikulak, a former National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) All-American in gymnastics, and Tina Mikulak, who studied at the University of California Berkeley on a full gymnastics scholarship. With his parents' encouragement, Mikulak began participating in gymnastics at two years of age, and joined the Junior National Team in 2007. He soon demonstrated his remarkable aptitude for the sport, winning the all-around, floor exercise and vault championships at the 2010 Junior Nationals. The following year, Mikulak enrolled at the University of Michigan, and quickly established himself as a key player on their gymnastics roster by winning the individual all-around title at the 2011 NCAA Men's Gymnastics championship, and repeated the feat in all-around, parallel bars and high bar competitions at the 2013 and 2014 NCCA championships. Between these wins, Mikulak was the first University of Michigan student to qualify for the Olympics and competed at the 2012 Summer Games in London, where he earned fifth place in the vault final due to a sprained ankle. Upon return to the United States, Mikulak resumed his series of wins at international championships, including first place in all-around, parallel bars and high bars at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship and first in all-around and pommel horse at the 2014 U.S. Championships. In 2015, he led the U.S. Men's Gymnastics team to a gold medal in the Pan-American games while also claiming all-around champion status at the same event, and claimed his fourth consecutive men's crown in 2016 at the P&G Gymnastics Championships. After posting the highest all-around score at the U.S. Olympic trials that same year, Mikulak was named to the U.S. men's gymnastics team for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.