Vitaliy Guimaraes

Guimaraes was born in Dallas, Texas, to Tatiana Kondratova, a former Soviet artistic gymnast, and Marcelo Guimarães, a former Brazilian gymnast and coach.^[1] He was raised in Arvada, Colorado.^[2]

In 2016, Guimaraes competed at the RD761 International Junior Team Cup; his team finished fourth.^[3] He competed at his first elite-level national championships later that year where he finished sixth in the all-around in the 15-16 age division.^[4] Guimaraes was selected to compete at the 2016 Junior Pan American Championships where he helped the United States finish first as a team. Individually, he placed first on floor exercise, second on horizontal bar, and third on vault.^[5]

In 2017, Guimaraes competed at the U.S. National Championships in the 17–18 age division. He finished second in the all-around behind Brody Malone. Additionally, he posted top-3 finishes on all apparatuses except the parallel bars where he finished seventh.^[6] At the 2018 U.S. National Championships Guimaraes once again competed in the 17–18 age division. He placed fourth in the all-around but first on floor exercise and vault.^[7]

Guimaraes became age-eligible for senior level competition in 2019; he made his senior debut at the 2019 Winter Cup where he placed 22nd in the all-around.^[8] He also started competing in collegiate gymnastics for the Oklahoma Sooners. At his first NCAA Championships he helped Oklahoma finish second as a team behind Stanford.^[9]

In 2020 the NCAA season was cut short due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.^[10] Guimaraes returned to competition at the 2021 Winter Cup where he finished ninth in the all-around.^[11] He next competed at the 2021 NCAA Championships where he helped Oklahoma once again finish second behind Stanford. Individually he placed fourth in the all-around and on horizontal bar.^[12] Guimaraes was selected to compete at the 2021 Pan American Championships; he helped the team win the silver medal behind Brazil. Due to competing at the Pan American Championships, Guimaraes was invited to compete at the upcoming Olympic Trials.^[13] Guimaraes finished eleventh in the all-around at the Olympic Trials and was not added to the team.^[14][15]

Guimaraes competed at the 2022 Winter Cup where he won the competition. This was the first competition that utilized bonus points based on difficulty scores. Despite not gaining any of these bonuses, Guimaraes managed to post the highest score due to clean execution.^[16] At the conclusion of the competition, Guimaraes was selected to compete at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge where he helped the United States finish first as a team.^[17] At the 2022 NCAA Championship Guimaraes helped Oklahoma finish second as a team. Additionally, he placed third on floor exercise.^[18]

In February 2024, 5280 Gymnastics teammate Yul Moldauer posted on Instagram that Guimaraes was continuing his professional gymnastics in Brazil.^[19] In March 2024, on the Roda de Ginástica podcast, Guimaraes confirmed he had looked at changing nationalities to Brazil in 2022, which was something his parents wanted him to do.^[20] He competed at the 2024 Brazil Trophy and won a gold on the floor exercise and a silver on the pommel horse.^[21]

In early 2025, Guimaraes' nationality change was confirmed by the International Gymnastics Federation.^[22] He made his international debut for Brazil at the 2025 Pan American Championships where he helped Brazil finish fourth as a team.^[23] Later that year Guimaraes was selected to represent Brazil at the 2025 World Championships, marking his first World Championships appearance for any country.^[24]