Inspired by Simone Biles and Others, a 24-Year-Old Gymnast with a Unique GoFundMe Campaign Asks for Community Attention: ‘I Use the Park Bench’

The world literally stops when Simone Biles walk on the ground. It’s like you can almost hear a pin drop. The Olympian is one of the few who is above the sport. The gymnastics queen walked away from a brief hiatus, breaking several hearts in the process. But she makes a triumphant return to the same stage that gave her her first breakthrough in Antwerp, Belgium. Biles continued to captivate everyone with his stellar routines. It’s no surprise that many of the moves she introduced to the sport would ultimately be named after the GOAT.

Many were particularly surprised by her double twist and double back tuck dismount, which now bears Biles’s name. Watching the gymnast effortlessly pull off such complicated moves has made many young girls fall in love with the sport. But Biles has been an inspiration to several male gymnasts who have taken their first steps on the floor. One of those fans is 24-year-old gymnast Glenn Titus.

Titus recently created a YouTube page called GlennFlips because he wanted to share his love and passion with the world in the same way that Simone Biles did. However, in his first video, he had a unique request from the gymnastics community. The video titled “GF BEAM UNDER MANUFACTURE“, he lets fans discover how he was always drawn to women’s gymnastics despite participating in men’s gymnastics at age 15. Watching Biles on the balance beam, he was fascinated by the “amazing visual abilities/jumps performed online» and Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Nastia Liukin and everything had to be perfect. Titus talks about how his mother bought him his first beam, the one he still has, in 2016.

By practicing the beam every day, he finally realized how the beam has slowly become his passion. He mentioned, “I use my beam, the park bench and a sidewalk to help me with my skills since I don’t have a real beam,“He quickly understood that he wanted to go further and help others who love beam, just like him. He keeps on : “But I want to create something of my own and leave that legacy of starting something new.“He will work on creating the GF beam so that budding gymnasts can train and have fun without having to go to the gym.

It’s no surprise that Biles has amassed such a large fan base that continues to cheer her on and off the mat. Titus, inspired by this, wants to give back to the community so they don’t have to go through the same ordeal he did. How will he help unleash her legacy with the GF beams?

GlennFlips’ GoFundMe to revive his legacy

Titus has taken the first step toward building his legacy in the gymnastics community. He has created a GoFundMe page with a goal of $32,000 for his version of the balance beams. He will first work on obtaining 300 GF beams as wide as a park bench for many aspiring gymnasts to practice their routines on. While he is unsure of the height or length of the beam, he is hoping to get some help from his ardent supporters. To date, he has raised $70 for the beams.

The GlennFlips brand was created to bring smiles to the faces of gymnastics fans. The 24-year-old continues to share videos of himself working out across all his social media channels. He previously told how he was prevented from training and competing at one of the local gyms near his home when he was a young athlete. But he has since competed and now continues to hone his skills at home. A day before the USA Gymnastics Trials taking place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Titus shared a video on Instagram of himself trying out Simone Biles’ beam holds. He also expressed his love for her and wished her all the best for the competition in the caption.

With the women’s events set to take place on the 28th in Minneapolis, Titus and many others will be anticipating what the Olympian has up her sleeve. Among dozens of female gymnasts, Biles will be vying for what could be her third Olympic race in Paris. The Paris Olympic icon has never won gold on the balance beam, just a bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Will we see her add a few more Olympic golds to her ever-growing medal collection in Paris? We’ll just have to wait and watch.