Townsend was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team and a member of three World Championships teams (1999, 2001-02).
At the 2001 World Championships, he earned the gold medal on parallel bars, the first U.S. male to earn an individual gold medal since 1979, and helped his team bring home the silver medal.
A Sullivan Award finalist, Townsend captured four gold medals at the 2001 U.S. National Championships (all-around, floor exercise, parallel bars, and still rings). He won his second-straight U.S. parallel bars crown at the 2002 U.S. Championships and was a member of the men’s 2002 World Championships team.
Townsend served as a U.S. Men’s National Team member for 10 years. During his tenure, he represented the United States at numerous international competitions, which included appearing in five American Cup (1999, 2001-03, 2005) and five World Cup (1999, 2002, 2005-07) events.
Townsend clinched his first World Cup medal by capturing bronze on the floor exercise at the 1999 Paris World Cup, and he was the parallel bars silver medalist and still rings bronze medalist in 2001. Townsend added three additional World Cup medals (one silver and two bronze) to his resume in 2002. Additionally, he claimed parallel bars bronze at the 2006 Glasgow World Cup and placed second on the horizontal bar at the 2007 Paris World Cup. In total, Townsend garnered eight World Cup medals (three silver and five bronze).
