David Kikuchi is an Olympian, a Canadian Champion, a level-headed competitor and one of the most dedicated athletes you’ll ever meet. Kikuchi’s dedication to mastering gymnastics brought him to the gym year-round, five days a week, four hours a day for over twenty years of training during his competitive career. His unbeatable work ethic certainly paid off.

Despite the fact that Kikuchi’s parents, Tak and Mary (Tak Kikuchi is already inducted in the Hall of Fame as a gymnastics builder), say that David did not start out as a natural gymnast when he was a kid, David competed at his first World Championships in 2001 and earned the top Canadian score on the rings to help put his team in an impressive 12th place.

Ten years before those World Championships, Kikuchi began competing in age groups at the Canadian Championships, and by 1996 he was competing internationally and had first- and second-place all-around finishes in two invitational tournaments overseas.

2001 was Kikuchi’s breakthrough year when, in addition to finishing with excellent results at the World Championships, he also took home gold for rings at the Canadian Championships. He was known in Canada as “The Lord of the Rings.” He gave an even stronger performance at the national competition the following year, claiming silver for All-Around. He also brought home two silver medals (team and parallel bars) from the Commonwealth Games.

2003 was a crucial year for Olympic qualification, and Kikuchi upped his game once again to ensure that he would compete at the 2004 Games in Athens. He ranked an impressive 20th at the World Championships the highest ranking for any Canadian gymnast and a significant achievement among 323 total competitors. Kikuchi delivered exceptional performances on the pommel horse and rings and competed strongly in all six events, which also made him an important asset for securing Team Canada’s place in Athens.

Trusted to give a strong opening performance for the team, Kikuchi continued to make things easy for the team at his first Olympic appearance, competing in five of the six events and earning the highest scores for Canada in three of those five apparatus. He also performed well at the Canadian Championships, claiming two gold medals in individual events and a silver for All-Around.
With his trademark calm and consistent style of competition, Kikuchi broke into the first-place All-Around spot at the Canadian Championships in 2006, rounding out his win with two more gold medals in rings and high bar. He also helped Team Canada take home the gold at the Commonwealth Games that year and earn the team’s highest ever World Championships finish of sixth place.

In 2007, Kikuchi defended his place at the top of the podium at the Canadian Championships, giving him a back-to-back Senior National title. He also reclaimed 20th place at the World Championships even though he had to step in last minute for two of the events due to injured teammates. These results put Kikuchi back at the Olympics for the 2008 Games in Beijing before he retired from the national team.

He has since turned to coaching and most recently travelled to the Pan American games and World Championships with Ellie Black, who he also coached with the rest of the women’s team at the 2012 Olympics. He can be found most days challenging a new generation of gymnasts at the Alta Gymnastics Club, where his wife (and fellow Olympic gymnast) Crystal and their two children also spend a lot of their time.