werking it

Heath Thorpe is going hard at his Olympic training

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Heath Thorpe wearing a rainbow colored speedo on the beach.

Heath Thorpe is gunning for Paris 2024.

With Olympic qualifications nearing closer, the heartthrob gymnast is in the midst of pre-competition season. Each day, Thorpe trains for nearly eight hours, honing his craft and mind.

The Australian recently provided his fans with a peak at his impressive regimen on Instagram, and we were not disappointed.

Our man goes hard!

His day starts at 9:00 a.m., with conditioning and rehab. Then it’s over to the mat for two hours of training, in which Thorpe practices his iconic high bar routine and vault.

The afternoon includes more floor work and training, taking Thorpe up until 6:30 p.m.

Preparing for the Olympics is no laughing matter. As one commenter points out, it’s a full-time job.

Despite the daily rigor, it’s easy to spot Thorpe’s joy. The rising star loves his sport.

Thorpe’s smile, and style, are infectious!

One of the more delightful parts about following Thorpe is the thought he puts into his posts and statements. The song he selected to underscore his training vid, a relaxed electro pop mix called “Life gets hard,” can be taken multiple ways.

First, the obvious: preparing for the Olympics is really hard!

But there’s an apparent deeper meaning behind the selection. Last summer, Thorpe was inexplicably left off Australia’s team for the World Championships, one of the premier competitions of the year.

The snub set Thorpe’s Olympic dreams back. He won the Australian All-Around Championships last spring and helped his country earn its place in the World Championships.

Yet, he was excluded from the international stage.

“I am absolutely heartbroken to share that I have not been selected to the Australian team for the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships,” Thorpe posted at the time. “Despite my many results and improvements this year alone, including my recent Australian All-Around title, I will not be one of the five Aussie gymnasts afforded an opportunity to compete in the biggest Olympic qualifier come October.”

Thorpe appealed the decision, but dropped his case when he lacked the financial means to continue.

But never one to give up, the Queerties nominee found his way to the World Championships, anyway. He obtained credentials to work as a journalist, conducting interviews with some of the sport’s biggest stars.

One of his biggest fans, gold medalist Simone Biles, even gave him a special shoutout.

Earlier this winter, Thorpe elevated his friendship with Biles to new heights, trying out her signature routine: “The Biles.”

It would’ve been easy for Thorpe to sulk following his World Championships diss. But his battle is about more than personal athletic success. It’s about ensuring there’s LGBTQ+ representation at the highest level of gymnastics.

The 22-year-old publicly came out as gay when he was 18, and has often spoken about the dearth of out athletes in his sport.

“When I was younger, there were no queer gymnasts competing on the international level,” he said in an interview about his advocacy efforts. “So when I was coming to terms with my identity, I now realize how significant it could’ve been if there were one or even two people at the top level being themselves.”

Thorpe never hesitates to show his true colors, and his love for gymnastics is apparent. More than anything, he loves the showmanship.

Thorpe often honors the queens of the mat, such as legendary Russian gymnast Aliya Mustafina.

Her style ties into Thorpe’s, who’s always looking to bring more flamboyancy to the mat–traditionally a faux pax on the men’s side.

“Artistry in the eyes of men’s gymnastics equals femininity and for some reason we see that as a bad thing,” he told Inside Gymnastics.

To refresh for the home stretch, Thorpe spent his holiday season vacationing in Australia. The temperatures were a bit warmer than Belgium, where he’s been competing.

Bronzed and sun-kissed, Thorpe is ready to enter the Olympic qualifiers at his best.

Let the countdown commence. In the meantime, be sure to vote for Thorpe in the Queerties as Sports Hero!

It would be the perfect pre-Olympic honor.

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