UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi stunned judges and broke with internet with a flawless, Jackson 5-inspired floor routine that earned a perfect 10
- UCLA senior gymnast Katelyn Ohashi earned a perfect score at the Collegiate Challenge Saturday with a fun, Jackson 5-inspired floor routine that had teammates and spectators cheering and dancing along throughout.
- A video of Ohashi's routine quickly went viral on social media and drew reactions from big names in and out of the sports world.
- The 21-year-old Seattle native's upbeat performance was a stark contrast to the confessional she published with The Players' Tribune in August that detailed her decision to stop pursuing her Olympic ambitions and instead compete at the collegiate level.
UCLA gymnastics senior Katelyn Ohashi took the world by storm with a fun, Jackson 5-inspired floor routine that was technically brilliant enough to earn a perfect 10 from judges at the Collegiate Challenge Saturday.
Ohashi began the routine with a big smile and a swing of her hips before launching into a ridiculous tumbling pass that she punctuated by sticking the landing.
Neither the routine nor Ohashi's energy dipped from there.
She danced around and hit her marks with grace, and as her minute and a half of glory reached its end, spectators and teammates erupted with cheers.
Check out the full video:
The stunning performance helped lead the Bruins to a Collegiate Challenge victory and quickly went viral on social media, with many big names weighing in on Ohashi's brilliance.
The upbeat performance was striking in more ways than one for the 21-year-old Seattle native, who had teamed up with The Players' Tribune in August to detail her decision to stop pursuing her Olympic ambitions and instead compete at the collegiate level.
"There was a time where I was on top of the world, an Olympic hopeful," Ohashi said. "I was unbeatable until I wasn't."
Ohashi competed at an elite level alongside Simone Biles not long ago, but the wear of gymnastics had both physical and emotional ramifications - she had torn both shoulders, fractured her back, and lost her love of the sport before deciding to forgo her Olympics dreams and take her talents to UCLA.
"I was broken," Ohashi said.
Now, Ohashi is performing joyful routines and dominating the field as the Bruins' premier talent. Saturday's showing marks the sixth time in her collegiate career that she's earned perfect marks, and the fourth time she's done so on the floor.
Ohashi seems rather content with all that she's accomplished in her gymnastics career, barring one small detail.