Jade Carey's Parents Have Coached Her for the Olympics Since She Was Little

For Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey, gymnastics has always been part of her life. The 2020 Tokyo Summer Games was her first foray as an Olympian, but she and her parents, Brian Carey and Danielle Mitchell-Greenberg, have had their sights set on these games for most of her life.

Jade has been tumbling since she was 2, making competing at the Summer Games a lifelong dream. She pinned down that aspiration in 2020 and captivated the crowd during the 2024 U.S. Olympic team trials. Jade will now compete in her second Olympics at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris in July 2024. Get to know the individuals who raised and shaped Jade into the talented gymnast she is today: her parents.

No matter where Jade's mom is, whether she has a front-row seat at the competition or is back in the States while her daughter travels, you can bet she's rooting for her.

Like most Olympic parents in 2021, Danielle cheered for Jade from home — but she knew firsthand that Jade was more than prepared for the competition.

"She's totally prepared, she's totally proven herself as an all-arounder. It's a wonderful opportunity to thrust her a little bit farther in the sport," Danielle told AZ Central in July 2021 of her daughter's performance. "For me, I just want her to walk off healthy and happy. If that's with a medal or not, it doesn't matter. I'm proud of her either way."

Both of Jade's parents are gymnastic coaches, and Danielle currently runs the USA Youth Fitness Center in Gilbert, Ariz. While Danielle wasn't in Tokyo to cheer for her daughter, she knew that she has the best support system in the game.

"She's prepared for this moment for a long time," Danielle said at the time. "She's very smart about how she approaches it. If she can just do what she always does, I think she'll be fine."

Unlike many professional gymnasts who only see their parents from afar during competitions, Jade's father gets to be right by her side as she competes—because he's her coach. In addition to that, Brian owns Carey on Gymnastics, which allows him to work directly with gyms to "make positive changes in the sport of gymnastics by prioritizing the physical, mental and emotional well-being of the athletes while having some fun along the way," according to the company's website.

If you're still not impressed (we are!), Jade's dad is also the assistant coach for the women's gymnastic department at Oregon State University.

Despite Jade's parents being divorced, the pair have worked out an amicable custody agreement, and Jade's mom is happy that her father gets to be there with Jade.

"I love it she can have her dad there [in Japan]," Danielle told AZ Central back when she competed in Tokyo. "He's got her back in [every] situation, it doesn't matter what arises. My philosophy from the beginning was I just wanted her to love the sport on her own. Her dad and I never pushed. We let her guide the ship all the way through. We didn't talk about gymnastics at home. She could really just develop the way she wanted to."

"Having my dad out there by my side means everything to me," Jade told the outlet. "I'm really glad we were able to share this together."

Brian comforted Jade after she bailed out on her original planned vault stunt after tripping, which placed her in last in an event she was considered a specialist in.

"I told her she had to bail out or she might not be walking right now," Brian said of the choice, according to Will Graves of the Associated Press.

Now, Jade's parents can prepare to watch their daughter wow the crowd once again as she gears up for the 2024 Summer Olympics where she'll compete alongside Simone Biles, Suni Lee, and Hezly Rivera.