Pulling off a technically flawless gymnastics routine is one thing. But doing so in conjunction with elegance and invention is something on an entirely different level.
That’s how Danusia Francis does gymnastics. The British-born Olympic qualifying gymnast, who currently represents Jamaica in international competition, is known for her exquisite artistic gymnastic routines.
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That’s why her perfect 10 beam routine keeps going viral.
Francis, who hails from Kenilworth, England, is known to give the crowd a good show by smiling and acknowledging them, as well as creating moves that are entirely her own… risky as they may be.
“The past three years, she’s been kept out of the beam finals because of it,” Francis’ coach Valorie Kondos Field told Los Angeles Times.
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When Danusia took to the beam she flipped up on her shoulder and crept across the beam astonishing fans and judges alike.
“For people watching across the country, this is the most interesting beam work you’ll see all year,” said judges.
At the time of the event in March 2016, she was ranked third on the balance beam in the nation.
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She rises, gracefully points her toe, and fluidly flips forward with her next movement effortlessly flowing into the one after that.
She makes it to the end of the beam and then does several flips backward to the beginning of the beam, smiling confidently when she is done.
“Such an entertainer,” a judge remarks.
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Danusia, an English major who aspires to be a TV presenter, then touches her tow to her head showcasing her incredible flexibility.
“She’s strange,” says a judge. “She likes the beam.”
According to UCLA’s website, the balance beam is her favorite apparatus.
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Her arms flutter outward as she floats across the beam showering the audience with her charm.
Danusia, who also works as a stunt double, says she had wanted to be in the Olympics ever since she was six years old and saw Russian Elena Zamolodchikova’s routine.
“I don’t know why that performance was always stuck in my mind,” Francis told Olympic Channel discussing her Tokyo 2020 qualification.
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“I think it was just seeing her being so confident and just at the top of her game. I just wanted that feeling to know that you were up there with the best of the best at the top of your sport.”
Confident and at the top of her game is exactly how Danusia was when she completed her Perfect 10 routine in March 2016.
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She then maneuvers her difficult one-of-a-kind dismount that involves a revolving sideways side aerial on the beam and a full twist to the mat.
Danusia says she prefers to come up with original moves and would rather lose using those than a run-of-the-mill move everyone has seen before. Danusia found that she thrived in a system that wasn’t traditionally scored.
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“The thing that I think was perfect for me was being out of the ‘perfect 10’ [scoring system]. And it was like you weren’t under that pressure to constantly add more bonus, more connections, and keep chasing these skills all the time,” she said.
“It was more that you had the chance to stand out, do your gymnastics to the best of your ability, and really just show off the best competitor and gymnast you could be. So I think that was why I was able to sort of step into my own, and I definitely felt like I became the best gymnast I could be and the best competitor I could be.”
Check out Danusia’s perfect 10 routine below.
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