Taeja James

Taeja James
Full nameTaeja Nicole James
Born (2002-10-15) 15 October 2002
Nottingham, England[1]
Gymnastics career
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Country represented
 Great Britain
 England
ClubNotts Gymnastics Academy
City of Birmingham (formerly)
Head coaches
Jodie Kime, Lee Woolls
Medal record
Women's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Great Britain
FIG World Cup
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Challenge Cup 0 2 0
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place2018 Gold CoastTeam

Taeja Nicole James (born 15 October 2002) is an English artistic gymnast. She won a silver medal in the team event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and competed at the 2018 European Championships and the 2019 World Championships. As a junior she won a silver medal with the British team at the 2016 Junior European Championships.

Junior gymnastics career

2016

James won the silver medal in the junior all-around at the 2016 British Championships.[2] She then competed at the 2016 Junior European Championships and helped the British team win the silver medal behind Russia.[3] At the 2016 Elite Gym Massilia, she won the silver medal on the floor exercise behind Anastasia Ilyankova.[4]

2017

James won the junior all-around title at the 2017 British Championships despite falling off the beam.[5] She then finished fifth in the all-around at the 2017 European Youth Olympic Festival.[6]

Senior gymnastics career

2018

James became age-eligible for senior competitions in 2018. She won the vault bronze medal and the floor exercise silver medal at the 2018 British Championships.[7] At 15 years and 6 months old, James was the youngest athlete representing England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[1] She was not originally selected for the team but was brought in to replace the injured Amy Tinkler.[8] While there, she helped England win the team silver medal.[9] She qualified for the floor exercise final in first place, but she stepped out of bounds twice in the final and finished seventh.[8] She then competed with the British team that finished fourth at the 2018 European Championships.[10]

2019

James finished eighth in the all-around at the 2019 British Championships. In the event finals, she won a bronze medal on the floor exercise and finished fifth on the balance beam.[11] She helped Great Britain finish sixth at the 2019 World Championships.[12]

2025

After a 5-year break from gymnastics, James teased her return on Instagram. She trialled for the 2025 World Championships, where she was named as a non-travelling reserve.[13] She made her return to competition at the 2025 British Team Championships, where Notts Gymnastics Academy came second and individually James placed third on vault, second on balance beam and fourth on floor. In November James broke her Talus bone in her foot and was required to take time out.

2026

James made her return to British Championships where she competed on balance beam and floor exercise. She qualified for the balance beam final where she placed 8th. James competed at the Koper Challenge Cup where she won silver on vault and floor exercise. In June, Leat was announced as part of the English team at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, alongside Abigail Martin, Alia Leat, Ruby Stacey and Shantae-Eve Amankwaah.[14]

Competition history

Competitive history of Taeja James at the junior level
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2014 English Championships7
2016 International Gymnix726
British Team Championships6
English Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
British Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)4763rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Züri Gym Days1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Italian Junior Friendly1st place, gold medalist(s)6
European Championships2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Olympic Hopes Cup753rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Elite Gym Massilia852nd place, silver medalist(s)
2017 British Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
English Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)
European Youth Olympic Festival55
British Team Championships1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
Competitive history of Taeja James at the senior level
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2018 English Championships8
British Championships163rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Doha World Cup6
Commonwealth Games2nd place, silver medalist(s)7
European Championships4
British Team Championships201st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 British Championships853rd place, bronze medalist(s)
British Team Championships463rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships6
2025 British Team Championships3rd place, bronze medalist(s)3rd place, bronze medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)4
2026 British Championships8
Koper World Challenge Cup2nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)

References

  1. 1 2 "Taeja James Gymnastics". Team England. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  2. ↑ Hopkins, Lauren (8 April 2016). "2016 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  3. ↑ Browne, Lesley (8 June 2016). "Megan Parker and Taeja James fly the flag for Birmingham in Europe". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  4. ↑ Hopkins, Lauren (11 November 2016). "2016 Elite Gym Massilia Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  5. ↑ "Birmingham's Taeja James crowned Junior Women's All-Around British Champion". British Gymnastics. 24 March 2017. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  6. ↑ Hopkins, Lauren (27 July 2017). "2017 European Youth Olympic Festival Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  7. ↑ Hopkins, Lauren (12 March 2018). "2018 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Nottingham's Taeja James 'can be one of the top gymnasts in the world'". Nottingham Post. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  9. ↑ "Nottingham's newest gymnastics star Taeja James 'must be so proud' to win Commonwealth Games silver, says Becky Downie". Nottingham Post. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  10. ↑ "European Championships 2018: GB fourth in women's team gymnastics final". BBC Sport. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  11. ↑ Hopkins, Lauren (18 March 2019). "2019 British Championships Results". The Gymternet. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  12. ↑ "British women's team 6th in world final". British Gymnastics. 8 October 2019. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  13. ↑ "GB team set for Jakarta gymnastics World Championships". www.british-gymnastics.org. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  14. ↑ "Team England announce gymnastics squad for Glasgow 2026". teamengland.org. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
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