Joe Fraser (born 6 December 1998) is an English artistic gymnast. He is the 2022 European all-around and parallel bars champion and the 2019 world champion on the

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars approximately long and positioned at above the floor. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally wear ...

. He is the first British gymnast to ever win gold in these events, and the third British world champion (following Beth Tweddle and Max Whitlock). As a member of the British Senior team since 2017, he has also won team gold and silver, and bronze on the pommel horse, in the European Artistic Gymnastic Championships. Representing England in the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

, Fraser won three gold medals in the

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

pommel horse The pommel horse, also known as vaulting horse, is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal bo ...

and

events.

Personal life

Fraser was born 6 December 1998 with six fingers on each hand; he had the additional digits removed as a baby. At age five, Fraser enjoyed doing flips at home; his mother, concerned about injury, sent him to a gymnastics centre to learn how to do the skills properly. He studied at Sandwell Academy from 2010 to 2015. When he retires, Fraser intends to become a gymnastics coach.

Career

2017

Fraser made his international senior debut in June at the 2017 European Championships in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In July, he won the All-Around title at the 2017 British Championships. He also won a gold medal on the high bar, silver medal on rings and bronze medal on parallel bars. Fraser also competed at the World Championships in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada.

2018

Early in the year, Fraser fell from the high bar and damaged ligaments in his ankles, making him unable to compete in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. He returned to international competition at the 2018 World Challenge Cup in Guimares, Portugal. At the

2018 European Championships The 2018 European Championships were the first edition of the European Championships (multi-sport event), European Championships. It was a multi-sport event which took place in Berlin, Germany, and Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom (with Edinburg ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Fraser won a silver as part of the team. Fraser also competed at the World Championships in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Qatar.

2019

In March 2019, Fraser won a silver medal on the high bar and bronze medal on parallel bars at the British Championships. At the 2019 European Championships in

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

, Poland, Fraser narrowly missed out on a bronze medal by 0.033 marks in the all-around final. In October, Fraser won gold at the

Gymnastics World Championships Gymnastics World Championships refers to a number of different world championships for each of the disciplines in competitive gymnastics. The Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) organizes World Ch ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, Germany for his performance on the parallel bars with a score 15.000. He was the youngest competitor on the apparatus and his win was Great Britain's first gold medal on the apparatus.

2021

At the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan, Fraser competed for Great Britain. The team, consisting of Max Whitlock, James Hall, Giarnni Regini-Moran and Fraser, took fourth place with a score of 255.76. Fraser then continued to compete in the Olympics at

and qualified for the individual all round final where he came 9th in his debut games.

2022

At the British Championships Fraser won the all-around title. Fraser next competed at the Baku World Cup. He advanced to the parallel bars and horizontal bar finals and was a reserve athlete for pommel horse. During the parallel bars final he won bronze medal behind

Illia Kovtun Illia Yuriiovych Kovtun (; born 10 August 2003) is a Ukrainian Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. He is the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2023 World all-around silver medalist and 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship ...

from Ukraine and Ferhat Arican from Turkey. The next day he won gold on the horizontal bar. Despite being hampered by an ankle injury sustained only two weeks before the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, Fraser was able to compete on four apparatus and contribute to the England team's successful defence of their

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

title. Fraser also went on to take gold in both the

and

. In the former, he beat 2018 champion Rhys McClenaghan while in the latter, he beat compatriot Giarnni Regini-Moran. Fraser won the all-around at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

ahead of Adem Asil and Ahmet Önder. Additionally, he qualified to the pommel horse and parallel bars finals, and helped Great Britain qualify to the team final.

2024

At the 2024 European Championships Fraser helped Great Britain finish second as a team behind Ukraine. In June of that year he was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2024 Summer Olympics alongside Jake Jarman, Harry Hepworth, Luke Whitehouse, and Max Whitlock.

References

External links

*
Joe Fraser
at British Gymnastics * * * *
Joe Fraser
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Joe 1998 births Living people British male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts from Birmingham, West Midlands Black British sportsmen World champion gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Great Britain Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Gymnasts at the 2022 Commonwealth Games European champions in gymnastics Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games English male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century English sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in gymnastics