These young Olympians continue to push a standard of excellence.
While gymnasts are known for having impeccable balance, grace, and attention to detail with their routines that demand perfection, this weekend was one for the record books. It was an all-timer.
Three separate Tokyo Olympians and college gymnasts — Auburn’s Suni Lee, UCLA’s Jordan Chiles, and Utah’s Grace McCallum — all scored a perfect 10 within less than a day of each other. It was the first perfect 10 for each young athlete, if that wasn’t enough.
A perfect score, for the first time, for one person — which again, the word perfect means mistake-free — is excellent. But three times, for the first time for each person, in a matter of hours? That’s absolutely bananas—an unquestioned concurrence of success in athletic excellence. The Great Gymnastics Conjunction happened, and we were all witnesses.
First, to reach perfection were Chiles and McCallum, who were competing in the same meet against each other.
After capturing silver together in Tokyo a little under two years ago, the 20-year-old Chiles is considered one of the brighter names in gymnastics. She showed as much on Friday with a relatively new floor routine.
Please, note the emotion, the pure delight. That’s what it feels like to be one of the very best at what you do. That’s what feels like to be perfect for the first time. Make no mistake: Chiles is one of the best.
Of course, in a competitive meet, the fellow silver medalist McCallum had to answer, right? Competition not only brings out excellence in all of us, sometimes it manifests perfection. That was especially true for the 19-year-old McCallum.
What a moment. What a performance between two stars. Seriously, take a bow.
If Chiles and McCallum being perfect on the same evening wasn’t enough, another accomplished gymnast had the cherry to add on top the next day. Or, should we say the following afternoon.
With the 2020 all-around Tokyo gold medal to her name, Suni Lee has nothing to prove to anyone in terms of her prowess. But, for good measure, she is considered the best in the world on the bars. And that is something to brag about every chance you get.
Why not show it, show off, and do it in a meet, no less?
In recording her first 10 ever, Lee captured just the sixth perfect score in Auburn history and the first since 2004. An elite club for an elite gymnast, to be sure.
There’s pushing for perfection; then there’s actually obtaining it.
But why should anyone be surprised? Chiles, McCallum, and Lee are incredible gymnasts and premier world-class athletes at the respective tops of their game. Their individual, and combined, flawlessness was an inevitability.
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