Grace McCallum makes feelings known about crucial rotation that saved Red Rocks from breaking 48-year-old NCAA Championships final streak

The Olympic Games-Tokyo 2020 - Source: Getty — Grace McCallum at the The Olympic Games-Tokyo 2020 - (Source: Getty)

Grace McCallum reflected on her competitive mindset on the day she contributed the highest scores to secure a spot at the NCAA finals. McCallum was the star performer of the Red Rocks as she scored a perfect 10 on the uneven bars.

McCallum, the team silver medalist at the 2020 Summer Olympics, has been competing with the University of Utah since 2022. In her debut collegiate event, she helped Utah win after posting the highest vault score of the night. The 22-year-old also helped her team clinch the Pac 12 Championships title and earned the silver in the all-around behind Jade Carey in the 2021-22 season.

Bidding for a National title at the 2025 Championships, McCallum took the stage in the regional semi-finals at the Huntsman Center and maneuvered impressively on the uneven bars, earning a perfect score. On Saturday, April 5, she repeated her perfect 10.0 feat in the same apparatus and punched her ticket to the finals with her team. The Red Rocks are heading to the NCAA Championships for the 49th consecutive year.

In an interview with Salt Lake Tribune, the 22-year-old reflected on how she kept herself laser-focused despite feeling a little anxious on the meet day.

"I kind of set those nerves aside and just went up and did what I know how to do,” she said. “I really trusted my training and the practice I’ve put in, and just let it go.”

McCallum won the Big 12 team, all-around, and vault titles in the 2025 season.

Grace McCallum will be back to Utah Red Rocks in a new role in 2026

Grace McCallum at the Gymnastics - Artistic - Olympics: Day 2 (Source: Getty)

Grace McCallum has had one of the most impressive career trajectories out of the top-level NCAA gymnasts. One of the headliners of the Red Rocks, she is heading to the Nationals on April 19, 2025.

McCallum has a new career path planned for 2026. Though she wouldn't be away from her beloved Red Rocks, she wouldn't compete either. Instead, the Olympic silver medalist will take up student coaching in her sixth collegiate year.

"I feel like coaching has always been something that’s been in the back of my mind. Who better to learn from than these amazing coaches here. I just feel like I’ll learn so much wisdom. I was really excited when I was offered the opportunity to come back a sixth year to coach. How could I say no?” she shared with The Salt Lake Tribune.

Grace McCallum was part of two gold-winning teams at the 2018 and 2019 World Championships.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar