Utah's Trampoline and Tumbling Stars Head to Worlds in Nanjing: Padilla, Brown, Matern, Magee and Rowley

Utah is sending a big share of Team USA to the other side of the world. The 39th Trampoline and Tumbling World Championships run Nov. 4-8 at the Nanjing Yangzi River International Conference Center in Nanjing, China, and five of the U.S. senior athletes heading there live, train or went to college in Utah. Four of the five train at Wasatch Trampoline and Tumbling in Draper.

USA Gymnastics named a 24-athlete senior delegation on Aug. 13. The Utah contingent:

• Ruben Padilla (Wasatch): trampoline, double mini and mixed synchro. The three-time defending double mini world champion.
• Kaden Brown (Wasatch): tumbling. A seven-time U.S. champion and three-time individual world medalist.
• Ashley Matern (Wasatch): tumbling. The 2025 U.S. champion.
• Akela Magee (Northern Star Bounder): tumbling. The 2026 U.S. champion.
• Isaac Rowley (Wasatch): trampoline, men's synchro and mixed synchro.

A sixth Wasatch athlete, Anto Wachterdorff of South Jordan, is on the U.S. roster as a non-traveling replacement in tumbling and is not entered to compete.

Who is Ruben Padilla?

The most decorated American in the sport, by his USA Gymnastics biography's count, which credits him with 26 World Cup and World Championships medals. Padilla won the world double mini title in 2022, 2023 and 2025, and USA Gymnastics says the 2025 title in Pamplona, Spain, made him the first American with three. He scored 31.300 in that final and also helped the U.S. men win double mini team gold.

In Pamplona he added something new: individual trampoline silver, 61.950 to China's Wang Zisai's 63.470, which NBC Sports called the first U.S. men's medal in the event since 1974. Trampoline is the Olympic discipline of the three, and Padilla was a 2024 Olympic alternate, according to his biography. In 2026 he won Pan American titles in trampoline, synchro and mixed synchro and the U.S. double mini title. At his most recent event, the World Cup in Riccione, Italy, in October, he took synchro silver and placed fourth individually with 63.670. USA Gymnastics lists him from Bluffdale.

In Nanjing he is entered in individual trampoline, double mini, and mixed synchro with Maia Amano, according to the international federation's entry list.

Which Utah tumblers are at the 2026 World Championships?

Three, and between them they hold the last two U.S. women's titles and the last six men's.

Kaden Brown of Herriman is a seven-time U.S. tumbling champion, according to his biography, which lists the University of Utah and a Master of Athletic Training. His world record runs back to 2019: individual tumbling bronze in 2019 and 2021 and silver in 2023, plus team all-around gold in 2023. He also won the World Games tumbling title in 2022 and 2025. At the 2025 Worlds he scored 30.700 as the U.S. men won team tumbling silver behind Azerbaijan, which USA Gymnastics called the program's best men's team tumbling finish in 27 years. Brown placed fourth individually.

Ashley Matern of Lindon is the 2025 U.S. tumbling champion and 2026 silver medalist. Her biography lists Utah Valley University, where she studied marketing, and Timpanogos High School. Nanjing is her third World Championships after 2019 and 2025, when she and Magee were part of the fifth-place U.S. women's tumbling team.

Akela Magee of North Ogden won the 2026 U.S. tumbling title and a bronze at the World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, this year. A 2025 graduate of NUAMES, she trains at Northern Star Bounder, and her biography lists Weber State University and athletic training.

Isaac Rowley returns to Worlds

Isaac Rowley grew up in Allen, Texas, and lives in Riverton, training at Wasatch. He was part of the U.S. team that won team all-around gold at the 2023 Worlds and finished fourth in synchro at the 2022 Worlds. This year he won the U.S. synchro title and trampoline silver and took synchro silver at the Baku World Cup. In Nanjing he is entered in individual trampoline, men's synchro with Elijah Vogel and mixed synchro with Sarah Webster.

When are the Trampoline and Tumbling World Championships finals?

Nanjing is 15 hours ahead of Utah, so most of the action happens overnight in Mountain Time. FIG's competition schedule (version of Oct. 31) shows each discipline running two qualification rounds and then a final. Times below are the session windows converted to MT:

• Men's tumbling qualification 1 (Brown): Wed., Nov. 4, 1:30-5:40 a.m.
• Women's tumbling qualification 1 (Matern, Magee) and men's trampoline qualification 1 (Padilla, Rowley): begin Wed., Nov. 4, 7 p.m.
• Double mini qualification 1 (Padilla): Thu., Nov. 5, midnight-5:30 a.m.
• Double mini final: Fri., Nov. 6, 11-11:30 p.m.
• Women's tumbling final: Fri., Nov. 6, 11:30 p.m.-midnight
• Mixed synchro final: Sat., Nov. 7, midnight-12:30 a.m.
• Men's tumbling final: Sat., Nov. 7, 1-1:30 a.m.
• Men's synchro final: Sat., Nov. 7, 9:30-10 p.m.
• Men's trampoline final: Sat., Nov. 7, 10:45-11:15 p.m.

The team finals fall on Friday and Saturday mornings MT, and the all-around team final closes the championships at 1 a.m. MT on Sunday, Nov. 8. FIG has revised the schedule several times, most recently on Nov. 1, so check it before staying up. About 400 gymnasts from 41 nations are entered, according to FIG.

The junior World Championships and World Age Group Competitions follow in Nanjing, Nov. 12-15.

Key facts:

• Event: 39th Trampoline and Tumbling World Championships, Nanjing Yangzi River International Conference Center, Nanjing, China, Nov. 4-8, 2026
• Utah-connected U.S. athletes: Ruben Padilla (trampoline, double mini, mixed synchro), Kaden Brown (tumbling), Ashley Matern (tumbling), Akela Magee (tumbling), Isaac Rowley (trampoline, men's and mixed synchro)
• Clubs: Wasatch Trampoline and Tumbling, Draper (Padilla, Brown, Matern, Rowley); Northern Star Bounder (Magee)
• Headliner: Padilla, world double mini champion in 2022, 2023 and 2025 and 2025 world trampoline silver medalist
• Tumbling: Brown is a seven-time U.S. champion and three-time individual world medalist; Magee is the 2026 U.S. champion and Matern the 2025 champion
• Colleges in their biographies: University of Utah (Brown), Utah Valley (Matern), Weber State (Magee)
• Not competing: Anto Wachterdorff (South Jordan, Wasatch) is a non-traveling replacement