Gymnast Jordan Chiles Says Being Named After Michael Jordan Helps Her 'Keep Grinding' (Exclusive)

Chiles says she's "crossing her fingers" she'll be able to meet the NBA legend one day

Gymnast Jordan Chiles was born to compete.

The 22-year-old gymnast, whose name was inspired by Michael Jordan, tells PEOPLE her mom was "a huge fan" of the NBA legend since she was young.

"She felt the inspiration that he gave to her, and that was just a really huge and beautiful thing," for Chiles' mom, she says. "She just decided, 'You know what? I'm going to make my child after him and see where life takes her.'"

Chiles, who announced she will now begin a year of training for the 2024 Paris Olympics after her college season ended this weekend, says she hopes she can meet the six-time NBA champion she was named after one day.

"I'm crossing my fingers that I'll actually be able to meet him and just get his advice for being somebody that looks up to him, what he gives out," she says.

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Being named after one of the greatest athletes of all time has helped her "find that motivation" and "keep grinding" in her sport, says Chiles. "Keeping that grind, keeping that motivation, keeping that dedication, is something that's always stuck with me, because I have big goals and I want to accomplish them."

Chiles says the key to "the grind mentality" is "finding the love in what you do," especially when faced with challenges along the way.

"I love being challenged in a way, so I'm going to do anything very challenging and see where it takes me," says Chiles. "That's what I've been doing with my sport — I'm going to challenge myself 24/7 and just see how everything turns out."

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The UCLA gymnast explains, "Because at the end of the day, you can only control what you do yourself. If I'm able to just keep pushing, keep doing, keep grinding, then I'm going to succeed in a way.

"It's always having an amazing ice cream sundae and being that little cherry on top, which makes it perfect. That's how I see it."

Chiles won the bar and floor titles at the 2023 NCAA Championship on Thursday, earning a perfect 10 on the bars and a score of 9.9875 on the floor, but UCLA was ultimately eliminated from the finals.

"From start to finish I am beyond proud of you guys," Chiles wrote on Instagram after the elimination. "Come back stronger next year and I will be cheering y'all on and will always be there! Thank you @uclagymnastics my family and friends for everything y'all have done."

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Before she begins training for the Olympics, Chiles is headed to Hawaii for some much-needed downtime, she tells PEOPLE.

"I really need a vacation because I've just been going nonstop over and over again," she says. "Being able just to have that relaxation is definitely going to help me before I even get into the elite world again. I'm really excited, it should be fun."

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