Inspired by Simone Biles and Others, 24-Year-Old Male Gymnast With a Unique GoFundMe Requests Community’s Attention: “I Use the Park Bench”

The world literally comes to a standstill when Simone Biles walks onto the floor. It’s like you can almost hear a pin drop. The Olympian is one of the few who are a cut above the sport. The queen of gymnastics stepped away from a brief hiatus, breaking several hearts in the process. But she made a triumphant return on the same stage that gave her a first breakthrough in Antwerp, Belgium. Biles has continued to enthrall everyone with her stellar routines. It’s no surprise that several of the moves she’s introduced to the sport eventually get named after the GOAT.

Many particularly were taken aback by her double-twisting double-tucked salto backwards dismount off, which is now named the Biles. Watching the gymnast effortlessly nail such complicated moves had several young girls fall in love with the sport. But Biles has been a beacon of inspiration for several male gymnasts to take their first step on the floor. One such fan would be the 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 the same way Simone Biles has. However, in his first video, he had a unique request from the gymnastics community. The video titled, “GF BEAM IN MAKING“, he lets fans in on how he has always been drawn towards women’s gymnastics despite competing in men’s gymnastics at 15. Watching Biles on the beam, he was enthralled by the “amazing seeing skills/flips done in line” and Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Nastia Liukin and more had to be perfect. Titus talks about how his mother bought him his first beam, the one he still has, in 2016. 

By practicing on the beam everyday, he eventually realized how the beam slowly became his passion. He mentioned, “I use my beam, the park bench and a curb to help with my skills because I don’t have a real beam,” He soon realized that he wanted to take it one step further and help others who love the beam, just like he does. He continues, “But I want to create something of my own and have that legacy of starting something new.” He will be working on creating the GF Beam for aspiring gymnasts to train on and enjoy without having to go to the gym. 

It’s no surprise that Biles has amassed such a huge following of fans that continue to cheer her on and off the mat. Titus, taking inspiration from this, wants to give back to the community so they wouldn’t have to go through the same ordeal that he did. How is he going to help unleash his legacy with the GF beams?

GlennFlips’ GoFundMe to kickstart his legacy

Titus has taken the first step towards building his legacy in the gymnastics community. He has set up a GoFundMe page with a goal of $32 thousand for his version of the balance beams. He will first work on getting 300 GF Beams as wide as a park bench for many aspirants to practice their routine on. While he’s unsure of how tall or long, the beam will be, he’s hoping to get some help from his ardent followers. As of this now, he has raised $70 for the beams.

The GlennFlips brand was started to bring a smile on fellow gymnastic fans’ face. The 24-year-old continues to share videos of him practicing his skills on all his social media handles. He has previously talked about how he was turned away from practicing and competing at one of the local gyms near him as a young athlete. But he has since competed once, and now continues to hone his skills at home. A day before the U.S. Gymnastics trials take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Titus shared a video on Instagram of him trying Simone Biles’ beam mounts. He also expressed his love for her and wished her the very 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 scores of female gymnasts, Biles will be vying for what could be her third Olympic run in Paris. The face of Paris Olympics has never clinched a 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 will just have to wait and watch.