At just 11 years old, Duke Torres has aspirations to become an Olympic gymnast one day. With four years of training and three years of competing so far, he is already on his way to making his dreams a reality.
"In first grade, I was flipping all over the house, and my mom eventually got so tired of it that she signed me up for gymnastics,” Torres said.
When Torres was enrolled at Dream Big Gymnastics in Portage, there weren’t any boys competitive gymnastics programs in the area. However, his potential was quickly recognized.
"The gym’s owner noticed Duke's talent during class," Olivia Leggett, Torres' mom, said. "She asked if I trust her to do something great with him. I trusted her, and now, here we are. She really got him up and running competitively. We owe it all to her."
Without a large representation of men’s gymnastics in the area, Torres didn't have a male gymnast he could look up to until his mom found a program called Athlete to Athlete. This initiative pairs young gymnasts with Division 1 athletes in their sport. Through the program, Torres met his mentor and role model, Logan McKeown, a gymnast from Michigan.
"He meets with Logan once a week for half an hour," Leggett said. "They cover everything from balancing school and gymnastics to working on his skills and routines. Logan has even come to our gym to help train Duke. He’s been really great.”
As he continued to train and began to compete, Torres discovered his passion for the sport. Though he initially came to gymnastics because his mom signed him up, he stayed because of his love for it.
"I realized I was starting to get pretty good at gymnastics,” Torres said. “I enjoyed learning new skills and competing was always fun, so I really wanted to stick with it.”
Torres’s favorite apparatuses — floor and vault — may come naturally to him, but he thrives on the challenges and rewards of gymnastics.
"I love the satisfaction of mastering new skills,” Torres said. “The thrill of competition pushes me to be better because I see people doing amazing routines, and I think, 'Wow, I want to do that one day.'"
Ambition and hard work have paid off for Torres on the national stage. In 2023, he competed at Nationals in New Orleans where he took second place all-around and first place on the high bar and floor. This year in Anaheim, California, he clinched fourth place all-around and first place on the rings and vault.
Though gymnastics is a big part of his life, Torres finds a way to balance it with school. He is currently going into sixth grade at St. Patrick Catholic School in Chesterton, and his favorite subjects are science and social studies.
When he's not at school or in the gym, Torres enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing outside, and riding bikes.