Former Penn State Gymnast Qualifies for Canadian Olympic Team

Sam Zakutney will be the first Nittany Lions gymnast to compete in the Olympics since 2012.

Former Penn State gymnast Sam Zakutney competes on the Pommel horse during the 2018 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships. / Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State athletes will be at the 2024 Summer Olympics representing several countries. The latest qualifier is former Penn State gynmast Sam Zakutney, who will compete for the Canadian gymnastics team in Paris.

Zakutney, who was part of the Penn State gymnastics program from 2017-20, is one of five competitors on Canada's men's gymnastics team. The 25-year-old from Quebec will compete in his first Olympics. He was the 2019 Canadian all-around champion, winning titles on the vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar and placing second on the floor exercises. Zakutney was limited by injuries in 2023 but returned this year to make the Olympic team.

At Penn State, Zakutney was a four-time All-American and helped the Nittany Lions to the 2019 Big Ten Conference championship. Zakutney won the Big Ten individual title on the parallel bars that year. He also was named the Big Ten freshman of the year in 2017.

Zakutney placed fourth in the all-around at the recent Canadian Championships, earning a score of 163.446. He is the first Penn State men's gymnast to qualify for the Olympics since Felix Aronovich competed for Israel at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

According to a Team Canada news release, the 2024 Games will be the first in 16 years featuring a full Canadian men's team. Canada qualified for Paris by placing fourth in team event qualification at the 2023 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. At the event, team members said "Do it for Sam," who was injured at the time and unable to compete.

The Olympics gymnastics competition is scheduled for July 27-Aug 5.

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AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network. Publisher Mark Wogenrich has covered Penn State for more than 20 years, tracking three coaching staffs, three Big Ten titles and a catalog of great stories. Follow him on Twitter @MarkWogenrich.