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TORONTO — Canada native Hugh Smith will be competing in his home country at the upcoming 2015 Toronto Pan American Games.
Smith has been on Canada’s national gymnastics team for nearly a decade and has competed in two other Pan Am Games, and he credits his success to something he calls the center of his life — his faith.
A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Smith has been involved in gymnastics since he was 4 years old.
Although he tried different sports, he found gymnastics to be his passion.
Smith qualified for the games with four other men on his team at their national championships last month. An all-around gymnast, Smith will compete at the Pan American Games in all six male categories, including the pommel horse, rings, floor exercises, horizontal bar, parallel bars and his personal best event, vault.
Depending on those results, the team can qualify for individual and event finals.
Smith has previously competed at the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he won a bronze medal for the vault competition. In 2013, he was the Canadian all-around champion at the Canadian National Championships, and last year, he competed with his team at the world championships in China, which was the first step for the team to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Prior to accomplishing these amazing feats, Smith took a two-year hiatus from gymnastics to serve an LDS mission in Mexico.
When he returned home 50 pounds heavier than he left, he ran between six and seven miles and trained for four hours every day for 10 months in order to qualify for the national team at the national championships.
Although it was hard on his body to come back after taking a two-year break from gymnastics, Smith knew he wanted to put the Lord first.
“It’s been an amazing journey and I definitely feel that Heavenly Father has definitely helped me and guided me through this and helped to preserve my body,” Smith said.
Smith added that he prays for his safety and health at competitions and appreciates the priesthood blessings he’s received and the fasting and prayers on his behalf from family and friends.
“I’m 31 years old, and it’s very rare to see someone this old kind of still competing at this high level,” Smith said, crediting this to things like the word of wisdom. “I know that without my faith I definitely would not have been able to accomplish any of the goals that I have.”
In preparation for the Pan Am Games, Smith typically trains five to six hours a day, six days a week.
“I’m a strong believer in that everyone needs to kind of find their passion and work hard for it, and for me, this has been gymnastics,” Smith said. “And I also believe that if you put the Lord first in everything that you do, he will bless you with whatever it is that you want to accomplish.”
Running for about two weeks starting July 10, the Pan American Games will be one of the largest multi-sports games in Canada to date.
In October, Smith’s team will attend the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships, which could qualify them for the next step to make it to the Olympics. If that goes well, they will qualify to attend the final Olympic test event in April in Rio.
To learn more about Smith and his accomplishments, click here.
