Jackson Payne: Mormon Athlete

Jackson Payne is a Canadian gymnast who rejoined the Canadian Senior National Men’s Gymnastics Team after setting aside the sport to serve a two-year, full-time mission to South Korea for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Payne, from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, competed in gymnastics for fifteen years internationally. He has won many medals, including the gold medal in the men’s senior all-around event at the 2015 Canadian championships. He had won the title in the 2011 Canadian championships before departing for his mission in 2012. The Canadian team did not qualify for the 2012 Olympics Games.

Due to a torn right Achilles tendon, he was not able to compete in the Pan American Games held in summer 2015. He was back into training ten days after his surgery and named an alternate for the 2016 Olympic Games. He was national all-around champion in 2015 and 2016, despite his Achilles injury.

He is a four-time World Championship team member (2009, 2011, 2014, 2017), a bronze medalist on the high bar at the World Cup in Zibo, China in 2012. He retired in August 2020.

He attended Athabasca University for a year prior to his mission. He is studying Kinesiology at the University of Calvary. He started the delivery company Deeleo in 2020. He and his wife have two daughters.