After five years with Team USA, Tiana Sumanasekera had already achieved major success, winning the 2023 Pan American Championships all-around title, becoming a non-traveling alternate for the 2024 U.S. Olympic team, and more. However, the 18-year-old announced in June that she would switch her national representation from the U.S to Sri Lanka. At the time, Sumanasekera did not reveal the full reason behind her decision, but now she has finally opened up about what led her to make the major career move

Speaking to Olympics.com on July 25, Sumanasekera said her lifelong Olympic dream and her connection with her parents’ country Sri Lanka helped her decide. She said, “I am hoping to qualify to the LA 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.”

Sumanasekera began her career as an elite athlete at 10 and joined Team USA at just 13. And when she reached the Paris Olympics trial, she understood she had potential to compete at the highest level. “In 2024, I became an Olympic alternate, and it really kind of shifted my perspective on my capabilities,” she explained.

Making the Olympic team was a huge achievement, but Sumanasekera also understood what it takes to make a U.S. team, which has just five spots. That realization influenced her to represent Sri Lanka, where her parents, Rajitha and Ruwangi Sumanasekera, were born. The gymnast not only wanted to achieve her Olympic dream, but she was also respecting her family heritage.

“From a little girl, I’ve always wanted to compete at the Olympics,” she said. “For me, I thought the best decision would be to be representing my parents’ home country of Sri Lanka.”

Since making the switch, Sumanasekera has embraced the opportunity and said she has received overwhelming support while beginning this new chapter. “I’m so proud and honored to be here and to be doing so,” she said. “I’ve received the most love and support I could ask for, and I’m just very, very grateful.”

Now representing Sri Lanka, Sumanasekera hopes to inspire young gymnasts in the country while chasing qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. “It would mean the world to me. I’m so, so proud to represent my parents’ home country and hopefully inspire young Sri Lankan girls,” she added. But now the question arises: Can Sri Lanka provide Tiana Sumanasekera the pathway to LA28?

Tiana brings elite experience to Sri Lanka’s growing gymnastics program

Sri Lankan gymnastics has yet to establish its foothold in the international arena, but over the past few years there has been consistent improvement. Sri Lanka’s leading gymnast Nuyara Fernando secured 24th place with a score of 42.699 in the all-around at the 2025 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The nation’s highlight in gymnastics was when Milka Gehani de Silva made history as the first Sri Lankan gymnast to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

But now that Sumanasekera is part of it, she brings something different to the program: years of experience. Prior to changing her nationality, she trained at the World Champions Centre with Olympic champions like Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles. The high level of training she received might help her to reach the grandest levels in the sport. But one challenge could come from balancing her NCAA career with her Olympic ambitions.

After signing with the Bruins in 2023, Sumanasekera committed to UCLA for the 2026 season. However, new NCAA eligibility guidelines might affect the ways in which collegiate athletes are able to juggle their sport and national team goals. The Division I Cabinet voted unanimously for a “five for five” system that would allow athletes to play five seasons over five years, while eliminating redshirt and most eligibility waivers.

Sumanasekera’s FIG nationality has been changed to Sri Lanka, and she is eligible for qualification for Los Angeles 2028. Training for NCAA gymnastics and the Olympics, however, may be a challenge, given the athlete’s emphasis on competition only at the international level.