Christopher Remkes

An orphan, Christopher Remkes's date of birth is listed as 3 September 1996.[1] According to the orphanage that took care of him, he was abandoned as a two-day old in a hospital in Bacolod, Philippines.[2] At 2 years old, Christopher Remkes was adopted[3] by Mike and Dora Remkes who brought him to Australia.

He spent his childhood in Happy Valley, a suburb of Adelaide[2]and started getting involved in gymnastics at the age of 5.[4] He has an adoptive brother and sister who were adopted from Manila. He tried playing other sports but eventually focused in gymnastics. For his primary education, Remkes attended Aberfoyle Park and later Ascot Park which maintains a specialist gymnastics program. Remkes also went to Hamilton Secondary College before moving to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra in 2015.[2]

Remkes competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the men's vault event. He managed to win a gold for Australia, ending a 24-year Commonwealth Games drought for his adopted nation in the event. Bret Hudson was the last competitor for Australia who won a gold in the vault event. Hudson competed at the 1994 Commonwealth Games.[4] After his Commonwealth stint, Remkes has expressed his goal of competing in the 2020 Summer Olympics. [2]