Florida gymnast Trinity Thomas announces she will return for 2023 season

Florida gymnast Trinity Thomas announced at the Honda Sports Award ceremony that she will return for the 2023 season, per the Gainesville Sun’s Graham Hall. It will be her fifth season with the Gators.

The Honda Award is given out annually to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports. Thomas received the award for gymnastics following her impressive 2022 season with the Gators that also saw her named the SEC Gymnast of the Year. She won the NCAA title by equaling the meet record of 39.8125 set by UF’s last Honda Award winner, Alex McMurtry, in 2017.

Thomas led the country with an all-around high of 39.90, equaling the fifth-highest ever in collegiate gymnastics. Her 12 perfect marks is second all-time nationally in a single season and her career total of 20 10.0s ties for No. 7 all-time among NCAA gymnasts. She set a Florida record with 39 event wins in 2022 ― nine vault, floor; eight all-around; seven bars; six beam. Thomas is also the Gators all-time leader in event wins with 113.

Trinity Thomas is also well-accomplished outside of her career at Florida. In 2018, Thomas helped the USA win a gold medal at the Pan American Gymnastics Championships. She also won silver medals in the individual all-around and on the uneven bars. Thomas would go on to finish ninth in the all-around and fourth on uneven bars at the US National Championships in 2019. In 2021, she announced her retirement from elite gymnastics after ankle injuries hindered her from training to compete in the 2020 Olympic Games.

Other than that, Thomas was also named the SEC Gymnast of the Year in 2020 and SEC Freshman of the Year in 2019. She will look to add to her numerous accolades next season in what should be her final year with Florida.