“Ripped Open My Hand”: 23-Year-Old Gymnastics Star Makes Shocking Confession Shortly After Winning First NCAA Championship

When it comes to the USA, the NCAA championships are the breakout moment for many talented gymnasts. And for one 23-year-old Michigan star, that was exactly the case. After all, he had just helped the Wolverines win their first NCAA title since 2014, giving his team their seventh championship. To top it all off, he also secured the individual title in the parallel bars with a score of 14.200.  And if that wasn’t enough, he proposed to his girlfriend, Reyna Guggino, on the same night. Sounds like a fairy tale, right? But once the cameras stopped rolling, Paul Juda shared a side of the story no one expected.

Turns out, that shiny parallel bars title? Paul Juda didn’t even think he deserved it. In a recent Ice Breakers episode with Lilah Sweillam, the Olympic bronze medalist, NCAA champion, and three-year team captain opened up about his unexpected victory. “I guess on that PER national championship, that’s the one event I’m not— I should not have gotten that national championship at all,” Juda admitted, reflecting on how the win wasn’t exactly what he had planned for.

For him, the victory wasn’t just about skill—it was about the raw drive to get through the pain. Juda quickly shifted credit to his teammates, saying, “Fred is better than me, Yiny’s better than me, and Logan’s better than me. All three of those guys should be tied for the best PER team or best PER workers in the nation.” As far as he was concerned, they deserved this gymnastics title just as much, if not more.

He even admitted that if he could choose, he would have bet on them over himself. But even with all the doubts, there was no way he was backing down from the challenge. And that challenge came with real pain. The night of the championship was particularly challenging for Juda. Just before his routine, he sustained a severe hand injury.

 “I ripped open my hand really bad,” Juda recalled. “I just told myself, like, I have to do it. It’s like, tape it up, and… oh no, no! There was blood everywhere.” But instead of calling it quits, he pushed through, saying, “No tape on this one. We just, we raw—we, we did it raw.” It wasn’t pretty, but injuries had been part of his journey from the very start!!

Rising like a phoenix, Paul Juda’s gymnastics journey through fire

Oh, Paul Juda’s gymnastics journey is the kind of story that gives you chills! So, here’s the lowdown: Back in 2022, he had this gnarly injury—a hyperextended knee during warm-ups at the U.S. Classic that made him miss the U.S. Championships. A huge blow for him. But did he throw in the towel? Nope, not even close. He came back, stayed focused, and even got named a non-traveling alternate for the World Championships later that year.

But then, bam—another setback! In 2023, he got hurt again. A freak ankle injury from a high bar accident put a serious dent in his senior season at Michigan. Most people would’ve been crushed, but not Paul. He just kept his head down, worked through it, and came back stronger. And here’s where it gets exciting: In 2023, he made this huge comeback at the Core Hydration Classic, taking third place in all-around, vault, and horizontal bar.

But he didn’t stop there! He crushed it at the Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships, snagging the national title on floor exercise and placing sixth overall. That performance? It earned him a spot on the U.S. team for the World Championships! Then, of course, there were the 2024 Paris Olympics. While he didn’t make it to the top of the podium, he helped the U.S. team secure a bronze in the team event.

He finished 14th in the all-around, but hey, he saw it as an opportunity for growth. That’s Paul—always looking at the bigger picture.