European Champion Gymnast on Staying ‘True To The Faith’

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By Sophie Jaglowski Runyan, Church News

Jonas Rushworth’s gymnastics career started after he accidentally kicked himself in the head during Nursery. Rushworth said he had always been a hyperactive child and weirdly flexible, which led his parents to sign him up for gymnastics. For the next 16 years, Rushworth would train for the Great Britain team.

On May 31, at his first senior competition, Rushworth and his team won gold at the European competition, marking Rushworth as a European champion.

At 19, Rushworth’s life has been full of training and competitions, but in recent years, he has made an effort to follow his parents’ examples and come closer to Christ. “Actively trying to find a relationship with Christ while working hard at a goal that I can only achieve with Him is how I know I’ve been blessed with this talent and ability from my Heavenly Father.” 

Growing Up 

Rushworth’s father, Daniel, grew up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but Venessa, Rushworth’s mother, was baptized when she was a young adult. As soon as she could, she served in the England London South Mission, where she met Daniel Rushworth. 

“Something that stood out is the priesthood in my life,” Jonas Rushworth said in a Church News interview about growing up. “Having priesthood blessings answered and having a strong priesthood holder in the house has been a big part.” 

Rushworth said that not only was having the priesthood in his home a blessing, but also seeing family prayers answered strengthened his faith. 

“I’ve definitely learned to have trust and faith in Christ and His plan for me. And my parents have helped with that.” 

Making It ‘Count’ 

When Rushworth decided to go professional in his gymnastics career, his family supported him and sacrificed time and money for this decision. 

Rushworth committed to learning more about Christ and the Church he grew up in. Rushworth focused on making the two hours of church “count,” praying every day, attending institute and studying the scriptures. 

Because of this, his teammates and coaches took notice. Some of his coaches would ask what he learned at church and some teammates asked questions. “I didn’t have the answers straight away, and that bothered me. It pushed me to grow a testimony.” 

His studying paid off one day when a gymnast shared with him his favorite scripture, Philippians 4:13. Rushworth recalled saying, “‘I have this similar scripture here from the Book of Mormon that I love,’ and he said: ‘Yeah, how sick is that? Weak things will become strong.’” 

Rushworth had shared Ether 12:27 and has had many opportunities while traveling for the Great Britain team to interact with missionaries, share scriptures and talk with other gymnasts about his beliefs. 

Setting goals 

Rushworth has seen the importance of setting goals with Christ in all areas of life. After setting the goal to learn about joy through daily repentance, his new goal is to learn about temples and the possibility of serving a mission. 

“I hope to also just spread the gospel as much as I can through gymnastics. You never know. I could be on the Olympic stage with a Book of Mormon in my hand.” 

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