Pictured above: Jordan Wieber, head coach for University of Arkansas Razorback Gymnastics, is an Olympic gold medalist who is recognized as one of the Fierce Five of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Gymnastics is known for being one of the most difficult sports in the world because athletes demonstrate almost otherworldly strength, endurance, flexibility, courage and grit to compete. These qualities all could easily be used to describe Jordyn Wieber, Olympic gold medalist and well-recognized as being one of the Fierce Five of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
Today, Wieber may no longer compete professionally, but her retirement from the sport did not conclude her involvement. She currently serves as the head coach for University of Arkansas Razorback Gymnastics, commonly referred to as the Gymbacks.
Wieber, a two-time U.S. All-Around Champion in 2011 and 2012 and a 2011 World All-Around Champion, has been involved with gymnastics for as long as she can remember. At just 3 years old, she started her lifelong journey in the sport with a deep passion and all-consuming focus on competition that originally left her unsure of what her life outside of training would look like.
“I had a successful career myself in the sport. I made it to the Olympics, and I won a gold medal, which was incredible,” she said. “I had been in the gym my whole life at that point, and didn’t know if I would continue to be in the gym the rest of my life.”
Women’s gymnastics is an individual sport offering several different events, including bar, balance beam, floor and vault. While individual success ranks high, Wieber said there is nothing quite like the feeling that comes from competing as part of a team. For Wieber, the opportunities to be part of a team were few and far between, with the only competitions really focusing on teamwork being the World Championships and the Olympics.
“I love the team aspect, and you don’t find it a lot of times in gymnastics, especially in elite gymnastics, which can be very individual,” Wieber said. “Every once in a while you get the opportunity to compete as part of a team, and those were not only my favorite times as an athlete, but also my most successful competitions.”
“It was impossible to say no to an opportunity like this.” Wieber has stressed character-building and positivity to great success with the Gymbacks.
Gymnastics is also somewhat of an outlier in the fact that most Olympic gymnasts compete when they are 16 to 18 years old. Wieber was 17 years old during the London Games and announced her retirement at 19. Prior to the era of Name, Image, Likeness (NIL), athletes were unable to receive endorsements and maintain collegiate eligibility through the NCAA, and this prevented athletes like Wieber from competing at the collegiate level.
“When I was competing, I had to make a choice between whether or not I wanted to go professional, meaning I was really making a choice between whether I was going to accept endorsements and money,” she said. “If I did that, I knew I was going on that route where I wouldn’t be able to compete in college.
“In my day, you had to make a choice early on, and I am so glad that our athletes no longer have to make that choice.”
In the new post-NIL era of college sports, athletes are now able to compete both professionally and collegiately, as eligibility and scholarships are no longer contingent on turning down sponsorship deals.
“We’re seeing two really positive things coming from NIL,” Wieber said. “One is that athletes that are Olympians or that have already gone professional are now signing with college teams, which is increasing the fan base and viewership. We’re also seeing a lot of college athletes who are gaining opportunities to compete in the Olympics.”
This, Wieber said, has only made college gymnastics more popular and provides the potential for students to compete both professionally and against each other in NCAA meets. This possibility is what she refers to as the best of both worlds because there is no longer a specific choice that has to be made.
“Traditionally, gymnastics gets really popular about every four years because of the Olympics. Whenever you ask anyone what their favorite sport to watch in the summer games is, they always say gymnastics, swimming, or track and field,” Wieber said. “So now what we’re seeing is during the other three years leading up to the next games, people are watching college gymnastics.”
Moved by the desire to compete for something larger than just herself, Wieber was inspired to participate in any way she could following her 2012 Olympic victory. She found her way back to the gym as a volunteer coach for UCLA as she pursued a degree in psychology. By 2019, she was sitting in a unique position with professional experience as a gymnast, a degree in psychology from one of the best global universities and an entire post-Olympics life to embark on.
When she learned about the Gymbacks head coach opening, she was excited about it and encouraged by director of athletics Hunter Yurachek’s interest.
“I knew that if I was going to coach that I wanted to be a head coach, and I didn’t know if that was ever going to happen,” Wieber said. “I especially wasn’t aware that it was going to happen for me so soon. It was a perfect opportunity.”
Prior to interviewing for the job, Wieber had never been to Fayetteville but was pleasantly surprised by the local residents, the area and the immense support for the Hogs.
“It was impossible to say no to an opportunity like this. My favorite thing about this area is the feeling of community,” she said. “I love the way that it’s not only those who are in the athletic department that are on board, but it’s every fan, it’s every person in this area and the whole state that champions Razorback athletics.
“I noticed from the first day I moved here how nice, welcoming and open-minded people are here. It’s been really fun to build our fanbase and continue to grow the sport of gymnastics in this state because people are just so excited about Razorback sports.”
With Wieber at the helm of the Gymbacks, the program has enjoyed resounding success in several ways. From breaking attendance records for meets to breaking records in both individual and team scores, Wieber led the team to the NCAA gymnastics regionals, further elevating the program’s visibility.
This past season, the Gymbacks set several attendance records, including welcoming 11,031 fans for a single meet, bringing in 36,619 people for the home season and an average attendance of 7,324. The home single season record ranked No. 6 in the country, and the average attendance record ranked No. 7.
“I give so much credit to our student athletes because they are the ones working hard every single day, perfecting their routines so that they can go out and perform for these fans and really make the Razorback community really proud,” Wieber said.
“They are the ones that are doing the hard part of competing, but every single one will tell you that their favorite thing about being a student athlete at Arkansas is the fan base. The fans love the athletes, but the athletes also really love the fans.”
In addition to attendance records, Wieber’s athletes also broke competitive records, with graduate transfer Norah Flatley and freshman Lauren Williams both earning berths to the NCAA Championships as individuals. Flatley also earned her fourth All-America honor on balance beam with a score of 9.9375, the best score ever by a Razorback as an individual beam qualifier.
Five Gymbacks earned All-SEC or All-SEC Freshman honors, the most Arkansas has seen since 2018, and the second-most ever for the program. Scoring 196.825 at the 2023 SEC Championships, the Gymbacks achieved a new program best by earning SEC highs on vault (49.425) and bars (49.175).
In June 2023, Yurachek announced Wieber had officially signed a new agreement with the U of A and is now positioned to stay in Fayetteville through the 2028 season.
“Since arriving in Fayetteville, Jordyn Wieber has continued to elevate our gymnastics program within the Southeastern Conference and nationally,” Yurachek said in a June 12 news release. “In the past four seasons, our program has qualified for NCAA competition each season, achieved numerous program records and produced multiple All-Americans.
“The success of our program has also fostered the growth of gymnastics throughout our state. From a sold-out Barnhill Arena to record-setting crowds at Bud Walton Arena, it is evident that the excitement for Razorback Gymnastics has never been higher. I look forward to seeing what is next on the horizon for Razorback Gymnastics under Coach Wieber’s leadership.”
Outside of breaking records and growing the fan base, Wieber stays focused on her desire to teach athletes gymnastics skills and life lessons along the way.
“I would say that my coaching philosophy is very holistic in the fact that I focus on the human being that is the athlete and not just the gymnast that is the athlete,” Wieber said. “My goal when they come into the gym is that they feel supported to reach their athletic goals, their academic goals and also their personal goals.”
Looking back on her own career, Wieber can clearly see the parallels of life lessons she learned while perfecting her routines and challenging herself to master new skills. This is the same experience she wants to bolster for her own athletes.
“My No. 1 favorite thing as a coach is seeing my athletes learn life lessons through the sport of gymnastics, and that is what I am passionate about at the ground level,” Wieber said. “I had a lot of experience with different types of coaching in my career, but a lot of my style now is based off of what I would have wanted as a gymnast. As a gymnast, I would’ve really wanted an encouraging, positive environment.”
Wieber’s coaching philosophy pushes her to lead with gratitude, while outlining a clear vision, values and expectations for her team. She always tries to explain to her team the reason why she is asking them to do certain things so that they can be motivated by understanding.
“There are a lot of standards and expectations in our program, but I think that’s what helps us be so successful,” Wieber said.
In addition to the gymnastics skills she brings to the program, Wieber also infused the collaborative work ethic and marketing mindset she perfected during her time in previous roles. Aside from the athletes, Wieber gives a lot of credit for the program’s popularity to the marketing department at the U of A and specifically Elvis Moya, assistant sport administrator for gymnastics.
“He and I work so well together and think creatively about how to get people in the doors of Barnhill Arena or Bud Walton Arena to watch these athletes,” Wieber said. “We know that once they come to one meet, they’re going to come back because we have created this experience out of our gymnastics meets that is unlike any other sporting event.”
In tailoring the meet experience for every demographic, Moya and Wieber have achieved the dual goals of seeing the student section full at every meet and bringing a mix of young faces and lifelong Razorback fans to the stands.
“We see so many little faces of young gymnasts in the crowd that look up to these athletes and dream about being a Gymback one day. We also see the familiar faces of season ticket holders and parents who continue to come back year after year,” Wieber said.
For aspiring high-level competing gymnasts, Wieber has several pieces of advice, few of which pertain directly to the sport of gymnastics.
“When you’re part of any team, there are things that stand out beyond your actual skills, and the biggest part of what you can offer to a team is your character,” she said “When you are able to wake up every day and be grateful, help the people around you and treat everyone with kindness, it shows up in other parts of your life.
“The mindset of gratitude is something that I really focus on teaching my athletes. I think that when people start approaching life with an attitude of gratitude, their whole life changes, and they start attracting people with that similar mindset into their life.”
Wieber doesn’t have to look far to see the fruits of her philosophy; ever since arriving in Fayetteville, she’s followed her own advice, and it’s led to greater paths than she ever could’ve imagined.
“I had never been a full-time head coach when I accepted this job, and my main mindset was based around being grateful for the opportunity every single day while also being able to be humble about what I didn’t know and confident enough in myself to know that I could figure it out,” Wieber said. “In order to do that, I continue to ask questions, I use my resources, and I focus on just being a good person. That is what has helped me be so successful in this position.”
(Photo by Noah Southard)
Wieber said she wants to encourage anyone who has not yet been to a gymnastics meet to attend a Gymbacks competition at least once to witness in person the grit, heart, passion and love that fuels the true athleticism on display.
“I had a previous head coach that I worked for that always used to say, ‘Gymnasts are like superheroes,’ and I really believe that,” she said. “Gymnastics meets allow you to see superheroes in action.
“Gymnastics is also one of the hardest sports in the whole world. If anyone has not been out to see the Gymbacks, do me a favor and come to at least one meet and introduce yourself to me. I’ll come meet you, and hopefully, you’ll want to come back.”
Photos courtesy of UA Athletics
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