Shane Wiskus, University of Michigan's Fred Richards and Danila Leykin at the 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Provided photo.

At the 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Phoenix, Arizona in early August, Sarasota’s EVO Gymnastics proved why it is pound-for-pound the most elite gym in the country. The event, which is the summer national championships for U.S. Gymnastics holds two purposes: to re-rank the athletes for the U.S. Senior National Team and to appoint the five athletes that will represent Team USA at the 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Germany this October.

EVO, which sent a total of 14 athletes—eight seniors and six juniors, the most out of any gym in the nation—dominated the competition. In the all-around, EVO athletes finished second (Shane Wiskus), third (Danila Leykin) and fourth (Joshua Karnes). Wiskus, Leykin and vault-champion Kameron Nelson were all named to the World Championship team. Those three athletes, in addition to Karnes, Crew Bold and Donnell Whittenburg, were also named to the Senior National Team.

“60% of the world championship team is from EVO and six of the 20 national team members are from EVO,” says Syque Caesar, Men’s Senior Elite head coach at EVO. “It’s remarkable because we’ve only been in existence for essentially four years at this capacity.”

EVO’s mission as a gym is to help Team USA win a gold medal at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. “We tell our guys, whether it says E-V-O or U-S-A on your chest it is the same thing,” says Caesar. “That guiding light, that north star for us is a big reason why we’ve been able to gain success in such a short period of time.”

For Wiskus, Leykin and Nelson, the Xfinity Championships were not a “walk in the park.” All three EVO athletes faced adversity—Wiskus in the form of a shoulder injury on the second day and Leykin and Nelson with falls and gaffs during the competition. “You want to make sure that you can count on the guy, where if he messes up, he can still bounce back and finish for the team,” says Caesar. “That’s what I saw in those three guys. In their training and approach, they’ve prepared for that.”

EVO Gymnastics, 7188 15th St East, Unit 2, Sarasota

Shane Wiskus, University of Michigan's Fred Richards and Danila Leykin at the 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Provided photo.

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