August 12, 2026

On two separate occasions Jordan Carroll stood on top of the podium at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which is just a taste of his future within gymnastics.

Carroll has always been surrounded by sport since his parents are prestigious athletes themselves—his mother Mary Carroll attended the 1992 Olympic Games and his father Steve Carroll is a 1985 Canada Summer Games gold medallist. To top off the familial inspiration, his sister, Sydney Carroll attended the 2024 Olympic Games.

“It’s been a crazy motivation. A lot of people think that it adds pressure to what I do, thinking, ‘oh since my family is good, I also have to be good,’ but it’s not like that at all. It doesn’t matter what I do, they’ll be proud of me. They always just keep pushing me. I really want to make that Olympic dream and it is because of them.”

But what may seem like the destined outcome for Carroll, will be the result of his endless dedication.

According to Carroll, he went through major developments this season and trained tirelessly to achieve personal goals, which has furthered his confidence while on the competition floor.

Although he still experiences pre-competition nerves, he has become better at managing it. Part of that process is Carroll envisioning his routine and directing his focus solely on the pommel horse.

“In my mind, I just know I’m going to do good. It’s hard to explain, I know it sounds cocky,” laughed Carroll. “But I just can’t imagine myself falling and I think that is really important in confidence and also just in performance.”

That mindset proved its power this summer.

Ahead of attending the Commonwealth Games, he secured an individual silver on pommel horse and helped contribute to Canada’s first-ever men’s team title at the Pan American Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.   

Those results marked the beginning of his rise, as only two weeks later Carroll was in Glasgow, Scotland donning the maple leaf for his Commonwealth debut and first major multisport event.

For him, it was a taste of what it would feel like to represent Canada on the Olympic stage.

“I was thinking about the Olympics Games almost throughout the whole [Commonwealth experience]. Thinking about ‘is this what the Olympic Games are going to be like?’, but I guess I will just have to wait to experience that,” laughed Carroll. “But the multisport Games itself is awesome. To have so many people from Team Canada be there, it is so much support.”

Amongst the expansive crowd in Scotland was his father Steve, who was able to watch him earn back-to-back gold medals as Carroll delivered the performance of a lifetime.

In the team competition, he contributed to Canada’s overall success by scoring 14.550 on the pommel horse and helped earn the nation’s first Commonwealth title in 20 years. He was then back on the pommel horse for the individual competition, wrapping up his time at the Games with a score of 15.000 to once again top the podium.

“The first thing I did when I finished my routine was look at [my dad] and I threw a heart in the air. I saw him crying in the stands. He was trying to hide it, but he wasn’t too successful. It was awesome having him there, it made it such a special moment.”

And it was more than just his father celebrating his success, as Carroll shared his mom Mary and his club coach, Marjos Baikas, were virtually cheering him on from home.

Carroll attributes his entire performance to Baikas, who he believes has put in just as much work as he has.

“He wasn’t there, but I owe him everything… I’ve never seen him more proud. It’s hard to really show that appreciation, but I owe it all to him,” shared Carroll.

Even now, a couple weeks since achieving greatness, Carroll states that it still doesn’t feel real. He marvels at his medals and enjoys reliving the moment by watching the recording of his routine.

But even in the waves of success, his focus has not clouded as he continues to look ahead to what is next on his pathway to Olympic qualification: earning a spot on Canada’s team for the 2026 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in October.

“I will need to go there and produce a score, do what I do,” shared Carroll. “I think it’s about focusing on what is next and not getting too distracted by the big main goal. I really want to end up on that podium at Worlds. I want to get any medal, obviously gold would nice, but I think getting on that podium would really put my name out there.”