Teenager Josh Thompson has pushed a frustrating two years to the side to stun onlookers at the 2023 Australian Gymnastics Championships.

In his maiden season of the junior international level nine under-15 division, the Hunter Sports Centre athlete returned home from the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre with a national title in his grasp.

It followed firsts in overall, floor exercise, pommel horse, parallel bars and horizontal bar, as well as a third in rings and a fourth in vault.

He finished with a two-day total of 138.681 points to claim the honours from fellow New South Welshman Sam Cook (136.695) and Victorian Nicholas Chanturia (129.062).

Coach Rohan Kennedy said he was thrilled with Thompson’s success.

“We certainly didn’t plan for those results but pleased they happened,” he explained.

“Josh has been dealing with an (L4-L5 back) injury, which has prevented him from competing for the past 24 months.

“So, we’ve had to really manage his workload and his training load, as well as his progression back into full competition.

“There was a period of time where he could only do two, three or four instead of all six (apparatus).

“In fact, as of December, Josh was still participating in just four and we weren’t sure if he’d be able to go through into this year’s competition season.

“But, we managed to get him to state – and he performed well at all three events.

“Even though he wasn’t selected in the top six to represent NSW in teams, Josh qualified as an individual.

“So, that makes his performance [at nationals] even more incredible.

“It certainly came out of the blue for us because I know he’s a fairly typical competitor who may not show a lot of stress or anxiety leading up to an event.

“However, he can switch it on when needed.

“So, I was aware he had that in him.

“What I didn’t know, because this was Josh’s first year in junior international, was how well he could adapt.

“These were all new routines for him; he had never competed before January, so he had to learn a whole style of gymnastics, so to speak.”

Kennedy said the 14-year-old felt a “bit overwhelmed” by the eventual outcome.

“I think Josh was really surprised,” he told the Newcastle Weekly.

“At the Australian Gymnastics Championships, they host days of competition, so he went in there with no expectations.

“We had a chat about what our goals were… and they were to make sure we hit all six apparatus, put up clean routines that were competitive, and just allow the results to fall wherever they did.

“On day one, he was in second place by 0.2 of a point.

“So, we knew he was in the mix heading into day two.

“The fact that he won and was able to do better than day one – by not only overtaking the lead but increasing it as well – was quite impressive.”

Thompson will now be put through his paces at a special session in the ACT, from 26 June to 1 July, to finetune his skills.

“I’ve got two boys in the junior national squad who’ll go to Canberra for a week of intensive training with others from around the country,” Kennedy said.

“Thanks to the support of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the infrastructure there, they’ll gain a lot of education during the camp.

“But, because Josh has been out of competition, we haven’t really had anything major on his schedule.

“We’ll do a fair bit of planning soon when the selection policies for 2024 are released in August.

“So, we will sit down and look at what his opportunities are.

“Maybe, he’ll go overseas for his first international comp, however it’s all dependent on performances.”

No matter what Thompson – and his mentor – decides, the future looks bright for the Port Stephens youngster.

“He’s only 14, so the world’s his oyster,” Kennedy said.

“As far as I can recall, he was selected to be part of the NSW High Performance program in Sydney around the age of nine or 10.

“However, since COVID and his injury, he’s been training full-time back at the Hunter Sports Centre with me to save him travelling all the time as he lives in Pindimar.

“If he can continue to build on his recent efforts, who knows where it might take him?”

Other Hunter Sports Centre gymnasts, who attended the event, included Christian Spelliers (level eight open) and Jai Mijatovic (level nine open).

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