Lais Najjar (born October 8, 2002) is a Syrian-American artistic gymnast. He represented Syria at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Personal life Najjar was born in Chicago, Illinois in 2002 to Chirin Chahkhachiro and Maher Najjar. He spent much of his childhood living in Syria while his father, a pulmonologist, traveled back and forth between the two locations. Prior to the start of the Syrian civil war, Najjar and his family moved back to the United States, where they would have better access to educational opportunities for himself and his two sisters. Najjar attended Hinsdale Central High School and competed for the University of Michigan Wolverines men's gymnastics team.
Gymnastics career Najjar competed at the inaugural Junior World Championships in floor exercise and vault. He did not qualify for any individual event finals.
Najjar made his senior-level debut at the Cairo World Challenge Cup, where he won silver on vault, behind Nazar Chepurnyi. In 2022 Najjar began competing in NCAA gymnastics for the Michigan Wolverines. Later that year he competed at the Asian Championships, Mediterranean Games and World Championships.
Najjar competed at the 2024 Asian Championships, where he placed 17th in the all-around. In late May, Najjar was awarded the Tripartite invitation to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Competitive history Year Event Team AAFXPHSRVTPBHB 2017 Junior Asian Championships 17 2019 Junior World Championships 42 2021 Elite Team Cup 4 Cairo World Challenge Cup 7 2022 NCAA Championships Asian Championships 13 17 Mediterranean Games 19 5 World Championships 49 2023 NCAA Championships Asian Championships 21 Arab Games 2024 NCAA Championships Asian Championships 17 Olympic Games 51 47 54
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