Michigan Olympic gymnast Paul Juda talks competing in Paris, winning NCAA championship and marriage proposal
After falling short the past two seasons, the University of Michigan men's gymnastics team can once again call themselves national champions for the seventh time in program history.
Team captain Paul Juda raised the trophy Saturday night in his final collegiate event as a Wolverine.
In the last year, Judah won medals in the 2024 Olympic Games before traveling across the country with Simone Biles on her Gold Over America Tour. Juda then returned to the Crisler Center, where he won a national championship and got down on one knee.
Juda set a high bar for himself ahead of his final season in the Maize and Blue, but high bars aren't anything he's not used to.
"I wrote 'Team Champions Big Ten, Team Champions NCAA,'" he said.
Both were checked off the list, partly because he shared them with teammate Frederick Richard during the Olympics.
"Fred demands excellence inside of this facility. I love competing with him because there's one thing to compete for Team USA together, but when you're competing for these guys together, and we got the one-two punch combo, it's awesome," Juda said.
When asked how the national championship trophy compared to his Olympic medal, Juda said, "This is all that I've wanted. I wanted to hold that trophy. The Olympic medal is sweet, it's this big though. The NCAA trophy is heavy, it's huge, it's gold. Yeah, it's everything I wanted."
His love for his sport then ceded the spotlight to his true love. On Saturday, he proposed to his girlfriend right then and there.
"I felt it in my heart. I brought the ring and go, 'I'm going to give myself the chance to do it. If it feels right, I'm going to send it. If it doesn't, then whatever,'" Juda said. "We win the national championship, I'm crying my eyes out, but most importantly, I got the partner for the rest of my life here. The age-old question is, 'Well, Paul, what would you have done if you guys didn't win?' and I always say I guess we'll never know."
Juda says he's finally going to take it easy for a couple of months once he graduates with his third degree from U of M. With all of the boxes checked for his Michigan experience, he says he's looking forward to facing whatever challenge comes next.
