Charlie Larson is in his first season as an NCAA gymnast. But he is already a collegiate national champion.
As a member of the 2024 Minnesota men’s club gymnastics team, the now-sophomore from White Bear Lake, Minn. took home the GymACT individual floor exercise title and with it delivered the Golden Gophers the team championship as well.
Now at Michigan, Larson is the NCAA’s top-ranked performer on floor and is looking to take home back-to-back titles, albeit at different levels.
“It happened so quick,” Larson told The Michigan Daily. “This whole season, I have been doing a watered down version of my routine. So to see this much success is an out of body experience, but it’s very motivating. Knowing that I am number one right now, even if it doesn’t last, it’s a big confidence boost.”
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Larson’s gymnastics journey began at just 2 years old, after his early signs of interest drew curiosity from his parents.
“He started jumping off the furniture,” Larson’s mother, Kris, told The Daily. “So we got him into gymnastics. He’s got three older sisters, and they were all in it so we dragged him along, and he really loved it.”
Charlie quickly immersed himself in the sport. As a kid, one of his go-to training partners was Suni Lee, 2020 Olympic All-Around gold medalist and member of the gold-medal-winning 2024 United States women’s gymnastics team.
Despite Charlie and Lee being the same age, he always watched in awe of her skills. As it turns out, he had an eye for talent.
“I’d always watch her skills and be like, ‘Oh god, I have to learn that next,’ ” Charlie said. “And we were both 8 years old. It was crazy.”
Unlike most men’s artistic gymnasts, though, Charlie spent the first decade-plus of his career in trampoline and tumbling. He was a member of the U.S. national team that finished fourth at the 2021 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, and his flair caught the locals’ attention.
“I was in Baku, I was wearing a mask, my hair is long,” Charlie said. “One thing led to another, I was being chased on the streets by people thinking I’m Timothée Chalamet. I had people coming to my bus, trying to give me gifts. I took some, but I was like, ‘I cannot let this boost my ego, because I’m not that hot.’ ”
While his experiences in the discipline were memorable, the NCAA doesn’t sponsor trampoline and tumbling. There are, however, 15 NCAA member schools in men’s artistic gymnastics, which caught Charlie’s attention as a high-school sophomore.
“He was still competing tramp and tumbling and training artistic on his own,” Charlie’s father, Todd, told The Daily. “He started going to the meets and came out of nowhere. He decided, ‘Okay, I want to continue it through college.’ ”
Charlie had always seen himself as an elite artistic gymnast, and he was driven to compete at the next level — regardless of the discipline. Just a couple years after starting artistic gymnastics, he was planning to head to Oklahoma and walk on to the team that had finished in the top two at NCAA Championships 11 years in a row.
But during vault warmups at U.S. artistic nationals in 2022, Charlie tore his MCL and broke his tibia, a set of injuries that required multiple surgeries.
“He went (to Oklahoma) when he was still recovering,” Todd said. “It was a little too early, it wasn’t a good fit, and it was very short-lived. Within two weeks, he was back home.”
His stint with the Sooners was brief as Charlie decided it wasn’t the place for him to recover. Instead, he wanted to take a step back and go somewhere more familiar.
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Charlie arrived at Minnesota in the middle of the long, rigorous rehabilitation process, joining a Golden Gophers team that had finished fourth at GymACT Nationals the year before. Early on, he spent most of his time building the strength back up in his leg.
“I think that was the best decision I could have made,” Charlie said. “It really gave me the time to recover fully and come back and get stronger.”
And he did come back stronger. Almost immediately, Minnesota coach Mike Burns saw the spark Charlie could provide.
“He gives everybody in the gym an opportunity to drop their jaw,” Burns told The Daily. “Everybody in the gym is just like, ‘Oh my god, that’s what it’s supposed to look like.’ It’s almost like he gives them permission to think that they can do it.”
As the 2024 season began, Charlie quickly entered the Golden Gophers’ rotation on floor and vault, and immediately found his stride. In his first meet of the season, he posted a 13.8 on floor, good enough for second on the day.
His first event title came just a week later, when he put up a 14.7 on vault in a tri-meet against Iowa and Washington. The rest of the season, Charlie would take home at least one event title in all but one meet, including six total on floor.
The final event title of the year was the most important — and Charlie rose to the occasion. At the 2024 GymACT National Championship meet, Charlie dominated on floor. His 13.9-scoring routine that featured multiple double-back layouts scored four-tenths higher than any other, the same size as the gap between second and 10th place.
Just four months into his career with the Golden Gophers, Charlie’s floor title — along with a fourth-place finish on vault — was more than enough to propel Minnesota to a historic victory.
“One of the things you’re looking for is dependability,” Burns said. “Can you count on a guy to raise his hand in gymnastics and hit his routine? That was what Charlie was like. I don’t think he missed anything when he was competing for us. Everybody felt comfortable that he’s going to hit his routine, and he did. That’s just who he is.”
Two years after suffering a devastating injury, Charlie was on top of the GymACT world. But he wasn’t done — he was setting his sights even higher.
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The Michigan men’s gymnastics team competes against Illinois annually at the Windy City Invitational, a multi-level, multi-day competition in Chicago. In 2024, the Wolverines took down the Illini by seven-tenths of a point. But Michigan coach Yuan Xiao was pulling double duty.
Minnesota was also competing at the event, though not against the Wolverines. And while Charlie only competed as an exhibition, Xiao took notice.
“I went to see (Charlie) compete at Windy City last year on the floor,” Xiao told The Daily. “I already felt like ‘I like that kid. That kid should come to Michigan. He’s national championship caliber.’ ”
Several months later, following his and the Gophers’ titles, Charlie began to imagine what could be.
“Winning floor there, that was my first big win ever in artistic,” Charlie said. “That really opened up my mind to what was possible if I transfer to NCAA.”
And when Charlie put his name in the NCAA transfer portal, Xiao didn’t hesitate to reach out.
“I contacted him and said ‘I want you to be on our team,’ ” Xiao said. “We gave him the time to visit Michigan and see how it looks and do other school visits too. And then he could make a decision. I said, ‘I’m not pushing you, but I’d love to see you at Michigan.’ ”
Charlie took visits to Michigan, Penn State and Nebraska. During his time in Ann Arbor, everything clicked. He loved how the Wolverines practices ran and how hard they pushed each other. Other teams didn’t have the same drive as Michigan. On Oct. 9, Charlie announced his commitment to the Wolverines.
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Fittingly, Charlie’s first time in the Michigan lineup was at the 2025 Windy City Invitational in January. He immediately proved he belonged at the NCAA level, finishing second on floor and just five-hundredths off the event title.
Since then, Charlie has been dominant. He has taken home the floor title in five of six meets, including each of the last three.
In the Wolverines’ victory over Ohio State on March 15, Charlie took the No. 1 spot in the country on the event. A week later, Charlie pushed himself further ahead of the field. Against Nebraska, he recorded a 14.85, the highest floor score in the country this season.
And he’s still not done. Despite his high scores and high-flying routines, Charlie still has more skills in his bag.
“Now that we’re tapping into the postseason, I have some tricks up my sleeve,” Charlie said. “The triple double lay is making a comeback. I’ve been taking my time with that one because it’s a little bit hard on my body since I got that surgery. But now it’s looking better than it was before. The hope is to add it back in and maintain good form.”
Ultimately, the goal for Charlie — and Michigan — this season is winning national championships. But Charlie has a loftier goal, too. It’s why he worked so hard to come back from his injuries.
“I’m gonna keep going,” Charlie said. “Because my dream was always to go to the Olympics, and it still is.”
Charlie’s teammate, Michigan junior and 2024 Olympic Bronze medalist Fred Richard, thinks he can make it.
“If he wants to be one of the best in the world on floor — he can do it,” Richard told The Daily.
As a Sooner and Golden Gopher, Charlie worked his way back from a significant injury, through several surgeries and claimed a national championship. Now as a Wolverine, he is looking to succeed at an even higher level.
Clearly, Charlie isn’t done yet. He’s just getting started.
