Gunther was born in Houston, Texas, on September 10, 1999.[3][6] He attended Westside High School in Houston, class of 2018.[7] At Stanford, he majored in product design, graduating in 2022, and completed an M.S. in sustainability science & practice.[8]
Gunther has suffered from osteochondritis dissecans of the knee from his intense gymnastics training. He had surgery to correct it in 2015.[9]
Gymnastics career
Gunther began in gymnastics at age 4 and a half.[10] During his career, he has been an NCAA All-American 10 times.[8] In 2017, he won gold on rings and parallel bars at the Junior Olympic national meet.[10]
Gunther began competing for the Stanford Cardinal in the 2018–2019 season. During the 2019 NCAA National Championships Gunther helped Stanford win as a team; individually he placed fourth on rings. Gunther would go on and help Stanford win the team title again in 2021, 2022, and 2023.[11]
In 2021 Gunther qualified to compete at the 2020 Olympic Trials.[12] He finished twelfth overall.[13] In 2022, he received media attention for breaking a horizontal bar in half.[14]
In the fall of 2024, Gunther participated in the Gold Over America Tour.[15] He later competed at the 2024 Sokol Grand Prix and placed second with teammate Denelle Pedrick.[16] In a YouTube short, Gunther announced it was his last competitive routine.[17] He followed that with an Instagram post on December 8, 2024, confirming his retirement from competitive gymnastics.[18][19]
Social media
Gunther received media recognition for his work on Collyge, an app rivaling TikTok in the short-form video market.[20][21] The app launched in March 2023.[22]
Gunther has gained attention from the national media for his efforts to promote gymnastics via social media.[23] He started creating content during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States when the NCAA gymnastics season was shut down.[24] His activity on social media allowed Gunther to pay for his Stanford student tuition.[25]
