UCLA gymnast Margzetta Frazier has something of a reputation for incredible floor routines and her latest is no exception. The UCLA junior pulled out all the stops in her most recent routine, mixing dance moves and inspired tumbling to a Janet Jackson medley that left even the competition cheering.
Frazier showcased her raw athletic skill as well as artistry by incorporating some of Jackson’s iconic choreography from “Nasty.” The overall result is a super fun and jaw-dropping performance.
Of course, Frazier scored just shy of a perfect 10 for her work.
As Britini de la Cretaz pointed out in a Refinery 29 article, these awesome floor routines have become something of a trend over the last few years, one that brings joy back to gymnastics. Frankly, it’s something I can’t wait to see more of.
Simone Biles and her new boyfriend, Houston Texans safety Jonathan Owens, have now gone public with their relationship on Instagram.
The 23-year-old Olympic gold medalist had been linked to Owens over the past couple weeks. She had been in a relationship with follow gymnast Stacey Ervin Jr. for three years, but they publicly announced the breakup back in July.
On Sunday, Biles went public and shared a photo of the couple together on Instagram. She wrote as a caption, “It’s just us.” Owens — an undrafted free agent Missouri Western State — spent time on the Texans’ practice squad last season before signing another contract with the team in January.
The world’s greatest gymnast looks like she could fly off the pages.
Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time, is gracing the August issue of Vogue magazine and of course, she looks incredible.
Shot by Annie Leibovitz (more on that later) Biles’ Olympic-winning physique is on full display as she poses in a red one-piece against a striking mustard yellow background for the cover.
Vogue doesn’t have a great track record for diversity nor of showcasing female athletes on their covers. Biles joins a small but exclusive group of black female athletes that includes Serena Williams, who has been on the cover several times, and Marion Jones who appeared in 2001.
.@Simone_Biles stars on the cover of our August issue! With the 2020 Olympics postponed and a shadow hung over American gymnastics, Biles–who is widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time—has had to be resilient as never before. (1/5) https://t.co/fPoNKoDNwDpic.twitter.com/6y4RxtMYAf
The interview, which was conducted in February before our current pandemic lockdown, touches on everything from the Olympic postponement to the current Black Lives Matter movement and Biles’ important role in holding the governing body of gymnastics accountable.
“Personally, for me, I don’t think of it as an obligation. I think of it as an honor to speak for those less fortunate and for the voiceless. I also feel like it gives them power,” she said.
Biles also opened up about her battle with depression after the Nassar trial.
“At one point I slept so much because, for me, it was the closest thing to death without harming myself,” Biles said. “It was an escape from all of my thoughts, from the world, from what I was dealing with. It was a really dark time,” she said.
Biles’ cover isn’t without some criticism though, with some noting that her photo should have been taken by a black photographer, instead of Leibovitz, considering the lack of diversity in magazine publishing.
After all the Black talent jumping out with #VogueChallenge, Vogue couldn’t idk hire a Black photographer to shoot this cover of Simone Biles? https://t.co/6N5Oac56Su
Tia Kiaku, shared a “very disturbing” incident that included a racially inappropriate comment from a coach during a practice last season.
Former University of Alabama gymnast, Tia Kiaku, shared via Instagram, that she had been involved in a “very disturbing” incident that included a racially inappropriate comment from an assistant coach during a practice last season.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t take the opportunity to address a very disturbing and grave incident that occurred last year while I was on the Gymnastics team at the University of Alabama.
During a practice, only the three African American girls (including myself) just happened to be on vault drills together. While practicing, one of the black gymnasts said “look all the black girls are all on the same event” responding to the statement, the Assistant Coach walked over and said “What is this, the back of the bus?”. Something that seems like a very inappropriate (racist) statement to me was just deemed as a very bad joke by Alabama! That doesn’t seem to be a joke that’s appropriate, especially in a professional team setting. I have seen a myriad of news stories of Coaches saying inappropriate/racist statements such as this who are no longer in a leadership position.”
Kiaku also referred to use of a racial slur in her post as well as “implicit biases, stereotyping, grouping terminology and statements with underlying racism” but didn’t give specific incidents with those.
Kiaku also shared how the incident was reported in a complaint to the University Office of Title IX Compliance, and what the response was after their full investigation:
“They deemed it a ‘bad joke’ and (the assistant coach involved in the allegation) is still coaching at The University of Alabama. This is a systematic problem as well!”
Alabama Athletic director Greg Byrne has this to say to the media:
“We are limited by law on what we can speak about regarding equal opportunity matters, however we can elaborate on what steps were taken/ When the complaint was received, it was immediately reported to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Programs on campus as well as the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. From there, an investigation, completely separate from athletics, took place. Once the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Programs gathered all of the facts, an outcome was determined, reported back and action steps were taken. We are a department that is committed to providing a just and inclusive community for all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, operating with integrity and respect.”
Kiaku transferred to Alabama from Ball State following the 2018 season.
In her post, she shares how “After much consideration, a lot of thought, lots of crying and even some tough/hard discussions with the Head Coach and some of my team mates, I decided to walk away from the team and the University. It has been hard.”
Not only that, she also urges the University of Alabama to take a stand and be transparent:
“So what I will say is…..if the University, the Director of Athletics and Alabama’s Gymnastics program wants to take a stance on diversity and racism, they need to be transparent. These injustices are happing right in the middle of Alabama’s gymnastics team and they did very little about it. So how are we standing together?
It’s so disheartening to know that there will be other black woman, like myself, to walk through Alabama’s doors and they pose the risk of going through the same things I went through”
Roll Tide Wire will keep you up to date on the very latest!
Naturally, as this challenge escalates while people are social distancing and staying inside when possible, superstar Simone Biles took it to a whole new level, as GOATs do.
Forget the t-shirt. Biles — one of countless athletes all over the world impacted by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics being postponed until next summer — did a prolonged handstand while taking off a pair of sweatpants and hilariously offered a little commentary as she struggled with that second leg.
With a move seemingly only she could perform, we’d expect nothing less. She’s great at everything. And amazingly, in the replies to Biles’ video, some people are actually attempting it.
Meanwhile, others — including Ryan Reynolds, who was first part of Holland’s challenge — want nothing to do with it.
Simone I have to lay down and have someone else do it normally
If you don’t know who Nia Dennis is by now, you’d better get to know her. Her amazing floor routines are absolutely taking over the internet.
The UCLA junior wowed us before by spelling her actual name in the air during one of her routines. This year, on her 21st birthday, she got busy on the floor to a bunch of Beyonce hits in an absolutely stunning performance.
First of all, with anything that you do in life, bringing Beyonce into the picture in any way, shape or form absolutely helps. Nia clearly has some great taste in music.
But that wasn’t it — just watch her moves. You absolutely love to see it. And the way she stuck that landing at the end? *chefs kiss*
After competing on the road, @DennisNia had an unforgettable "Homecoming" performance in Westwood last weekend. 👑🥁
Dennis’ routine only earned a 9.975 from the judges, which is still an absolutely great score! But, somehow, it still feels criminally underrated.
And, listen, I know absolutely nothing about judging gymnastics. But if Chadwick Boseman can judge dunks, I can judge this. This is easily a 10. Bonus points for hitting the woah at the 50 second mark.
This performance from Dennis, somehow, did not win the competition for UCLA — they were juuuust beaten by Utah, 198.075-198.025.
It’s alright, though. They didn’t win the competition but they absolutely won the internet.
Nia Dennis scores a career-high 9.975 on floor and The Den sings her happy birthday. She was really looking for that 10 though. With fans chanting for a 10, Norah Flatley screamed at the direction of one of the judges "10! 10!"
And her reaction was just as perfect as her throw.
Simone Biles wins at everything she does, apparently, even when she competes in something fun and light-hearted outside of the gymnastics world.
The soon-to-be-23-year-old gymnast — who owns a combined 30 Olympic and world championship medals and was For The Win’s most dominant athlete of the 2010s (and it wasn’t even close) — showed off her axe-throwing skills in a video she tweeted Thursday night. Not only did the superstar gymnast nail a bullseye with this attempt, but she also had the most spectacular reaction to it.
As soon as the axe perfectly hit the center of the target, Biles turned around and began screaming and jumping up and down with excitement. What a shot:
She’s seemingly in awe of herself, and we’re pretty impressed too.
While she prepares for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this summer, Biles continues teasing the internet with other stunning training videos as she keeps defying the laws of physics. Just look at the most recent video she posted from the gym:
I can’t decide if Simone Biles’ historic triple twisting-double somersault is more incredible in slow-motion or real-time. While slow-motion highlights the details of the move she performed during her floor routine on her way to a sixth U.S. national championship in August, the real-time video illustrates just how much she jam-packs into one powerful pass.
It doesn’t really matter, though, because I’ll watch any and all versions of Biles’ high-flying triple-double — or three twists plus two flips — a skill so challenging she was the first woman to do it. That move is just one of the countless examples of her greatness and only one footnote in her decade of dominance.
No athlete in the entire world has dominated his or her respective sport in the 2010s like Biles has in gymnastics. No athlete has redefined dominance or impacted the way others approach competition like she has, and no athlete has the hardware to prove it all like she does.
It’s not even close.
Everyone remembers her utter excellence at the 2016 Rio Olympics when four of her five medals were gold, including her victory in the all-around by an astronomically large margin of more than two points over American teammate Aly Raisman. She led the “Final Five” to team gold, while also finishing at the top of the podium on vault and floor exercise with her lone bronze medal coming on the balance beam.
That summer, Biles became a household name, but she was ruling the gymnastics world years before that.
Since 2013, she’s won 25 world championship medals to become the most decorated male or female gymnast in history at worlds, most recently taking home five golds in Germany in October to raise her career gold medal total at the event to 19. And, looking ahead, it’s possible she could win five more gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In every world championship Biles entered this decade, she won gold in the all-around and floor exercise (2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019). In fact, she’s won every all-around competition in which she competed since 2013. (She cleaned up at the Olympics in 2016 and took a break from gymnastics in 2017.)
She was on top of the world for six years this decade, and that is — in the truest sense of the word — unbelievable.
She won her sixth all-around national title in August, but her overall win actually took a backseat to two jaw-dropping moments from the competition. One was, of course, the triple-double, during which she got so much air that she could have cleared an SUV, as USA TODAY Sports’ Nancy Armour observed.
You already know we had to get the slo-mo for y'all…
“I can’t describe what it feels like because we’re in total control of our bodies,” Biles told For The Win about the skill not long after nationals. “So it doesn’t feel like we’re way up there and gravity’s trying to pull us back down. In a way, if feels like we’re flying, but it’s very controlled.”
And with her dismount on the balance beam, she became the first gymnast to land a double-twisting double somersault. The move is so exceptional that at world championships a couple months later, the International Gymnastics Federation actually punished her for having the audacity to perform something only she is capable of in a misguided attempt to deter others from attempting it.
With these two moves, she now has four skills named after her, which happens when a gymnast is the first to successfully perform something new.
So obviously the GOAT in gymnastics, Biles also deserves to be included in debates about the greatest athletes of all time because of her sustained success. She’s so far ahead of her competition that sometimes she can make a mistake and still comfortably win.
Her name deserves to be listed alongside all-time greats like Michael Phelps, Serena Williams, Michael Jordan and Tom Brady, and she continues throwing one impressive accolade after the other on her resume. But as far as total domination of the 2010s goes, Biles stands alone above her peers, above her fellow GOATs and above the laws of physics.
