I’ve always felt that gymnasts are some of the strongest people on the planet. Each time I watch these athletes move their bodies in unimaginable ways, I envision how strong their muscles must be to help their bodies move in those ways. When it comes to gymnastics for college athletes, women teams must compete in four different events: balance beam, uneven bars, vault, and floor exercise.
The vault event requires the gymnast to run down a track until she reaches the platform that launches her in the air. After pushing off from the springboard, the gymnast rockets through the air like a high-speed projectile as she spins and twirls and tucks herself into unimaginable positions while airborne. The trick is finished when the gymnast sticks a landing without falling off balance or collapsing to the mat in failure.
The balance beam requires the athlete to traverse a small surface as she goes from her feet to her hands and back again. She must stand on her hands, perform flips, and more – all while remaining upright on the balance beam.
The uneven bars are also a fun event to watch. The athlete spins around the bars to gain momentum as she does amazing movements and even flies through the air to grab onto the other bar. The athlete must launch herself up or down to grab onto the other bar, which is at an uneven height from the other bar. Gymnasts must also perform moves that require them to remain on the same bar – not every trick requires them to fly through the air.
The final event, the floor exercise, can be particularly fun to watch. During this sequence, the gymnast must claim the entire floor space as she performs complicated movements during a routine choreographed to music.
In the video below, you’ll watch UCLA gymnast Gracie Kramer, 21, stun an auditorium full of fans with her moves during the floor exercise. As you’ll hear while watching the performance, the commentator cannot help but call Gracie’s routine “dark” and “foreboding” because of the moody music and slow movements that start the routine. However, the music suddenly changes, which spurs Gracie into a new mood that utterly transforms her routine in a moment.
When it comes time for the judges to rate Gracie’s performance, she waits patiently as they tally their scores. But when the judges reveal that Gracie earned a perfect 10 for her floor exercise, she cannot hold back her glee. It was the first time in her collegiate career that Gracie got a perfect score.
“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.”
What do you think about her mesmerizing routine?