Gymastics ambassador Sophia Campana

When her dreams of Olympic glory didn’t come to fruition, Sophia Campana carved out a successful career in the land of her forebears and beyond.

Like almost every talented, driven gymnast, Sophia Campana grew up with Olympic ambitions.

“Gosh, I was obsessed with the Olympics,” Campana says. “My thinking was I’ll make it to the Olympics and win the gold medal and then everyone will love me.”

So, when she failed to qualify with the gymnastics team for the 2012 Olympics it was a major blow. But in the 13 years since, Campana has made a great career for herself in gymnastics and has become a hero to young fans in Italy and America.

Campana grew up in Colorado and seemed to possess endless energy in the eyes of her parents.

“I would get in trouble for jumping on the couch and hanging on everything,” Campana says. “They put me in a gymnastics class connected to a preschool and then I never wanted to leave the gym.”

Perhaps it’s no surprise that despite not making an Olympic team she stuck with gymnastics.

“The career fell into place on its own, in a way, because I just chose to continue,” Campana says. “I said I don’t want to do anything else. I want to find a way to make this work.”

Campana, who became an Italian citizen through her paternal grandparents, decided to join a professional Italian team.

“After my first visit to Italy, I had a new dream, to compete in my grandparents’ country,” Campana says. “I wanted the experience of living in Italy and learning the language.”

During her training with the national team, she spent most of each day with her teammates either training at the gym or living together in the same big house. As it happened, MTV Italy turned the experience into a reality TV show.

“Between the house and the girls and boys and the gym, it was quite the drama that MTV was looking for,” Campana says.

Campana had returned to Colorado by the time the show began airing in Italy.

Her presence on MTV expanded her Instagram following to 70,000, and that number quickly grew. By the time she returned to Italy, she was getting recognized on the street. She said one of her more surreal experiences happened last year when visiting her grandmother’s hometown near Naples.

“Kids started recognizing me, and some were screaming and crying and the next thing I know there were 50 children around me and the police had to come out,” Campana says. “I was just smiling the whole time because I was in my grandma’s hometown thinking ‘this is so cool.’”

Campana now has around 900,000 followers on Instagram and around 750,000 YouTube subscribers globally. She has leveraged her fame to lead youth gymnastics workshops in Italy and around the world.

“Working with young fans has really expanded my heart because I can see myself in young aspirational gymnasts,” Campana says. “I try to teach them you don’t have to be mean to yourself, you should be patient and kind to yourself. I teach them mental strength, how to learn through play and most importantly how to access their fire within.”

Campana has written three books, including “Flipped: Keeping My Balance Beyond Borders,” a memoir published in both Italian and English. Her most recent is a children’s book called “Amiche Sulla Trave” (“Friends on the Beam”), which is currently published only in Italian.

Through all her pursuits outside of the gym, Campana has remained a high-level athlete. She said her proudest athletic achievement came in December 2021 when she won a gold medal at the Italian Nationals on the uneven bars. A photo of her with her medal is still her pinned post on Instagram.

And she’s not done. Campana plans to sign up for gymnastics competitions in the U.S. later this year.

“I’m getting very involved in the adult gymnastics community. I want to break into the new professional league in the United States,” Campana says. “I asked myself, ‘Instead of winning the Olympics, how can I win at life.’ I learned to find worthiness within and create an even better life of my dreams.”

The article above appears in the September 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture. To subscribe, click here.