The complete control, strength, and skill that is possessed by collegiate gymnasts is absolutely mindblowing. Their bodies have been trained to move and bend in seemingly impossible ways.
Women’s collegiate gymnastics is divided into four events. These are vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise.
When gymnasts vault, they will speed down the runway and often perform a double handspring – pushing off the springboard to get momentum. The gymnast, now airborne, will often perform a tuck, pike, or another move before sticking the landing.
Uneven bar exercises are a great opportunity for some amazing moves.
There’s a flight element when the gymnast moves from the high bar to the low bar and back again. There are also different grips, such as a close bar element and a non-flight turn on the bar – like turning handstands. The gymnast needs to work a precise move into the dismount as well.
Balance beams, as the name suggests, require perfect balance.
Balance bar routines that are performed on the balance bar equipment will incorporate spectacular leaps and turns that always leave onlookers amazed.
The floor exercise is a dynamic mixture of character dance moves and mind-blowing gymnastic maneuvers.
More complex routines have a higher possibility of achieving a high score.
The UCLA gymnastics team is known for choreographing high-score gymnastic tricks and dizzying routines. But, in 2020, one particular floor routine by 21-year-old Gracie Kramer left the entire auditorium astonished.
When Gracie began her routine, the commentator was immediately taken aback by the “dark” and “foreboding” character she was playing.
But then, as the music changed, she flashed a wide smile and began to showcase her amazing moves.
Gracie begins by moving on the floor, her body twisting up from a crawling position into a lunge that sends her thundering down the stage, executing a flawless handspring and twist. Then, she performs a high front twist and hits the floor. The audience is spellbound.
She continues her enchanting performance, spinning, kicking, and leaping into the air with a grin. Onlookers move closer to the edge of their seats, anticipating what she’ll do next.
All eyes are on her.
After hitting the final pose, Gracie leaps into a standing position with a huge smile on her face. The audience erupts with applause and screams.
Her teammates run to Gracie and hug her tight – they are all so elated that they jump up and down about what she’s just done.
Everyone in the room is chanting “Gracie, Gracie…” But what do the judges think of her routine?
Gracie can hardly believe it. For the first time in her gymnastics career, she scores a perfect 10!
“It really just felt like a normal routine and it was just like the icing on the cake. I feel like I’ve done 10 on routines before and whether or not the judge thought so, I knew in my heart that it was. So, I’ve felt that feeling before but it was just like almost 10 times more just because everyone else felt it and it was just a really cool accomplishment for me.”
But Gracie wasn’t the only one who achieved a perfect score that season. Her teammate, Kyla Ross, also got a perfect 10 at USCL’s opening home meet for 2020 – UCLA’s first perfect 10 of the season. It was also Kyla’s first time scoring a 10 on bars at a home meet. And the previous year, Kyla received the most perfect 10s in the 2019 NCAA season.
To see Gracie’s jaw-dropping routine for yourself, watch the video below.
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