When UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi choreographed her floor routine for the season, she had no idea that it would go viral, garnering more than 36 million views on Twitter alone in just a few days after competing with it at the Under Armour Collegiate Challenge.
Ohashi’s routine is simply fantastic. It’s full of complicated and seemingly impossible twists, flips, twirls, leaps and a splits series that makes you wonder how on earth she climbs out of bed in the morning. Not only did Ohashi rock the house at that meet with her gravity-defying moves, but her routine was so incredible that the judges awarded her a perfect 10.
Her routine was set to a compilation of Michael Jackson songs peppered with “Rhythm Nation” from Janet Jackson, a Tina Turner hit, and a blip from Earth, Wind and Fire. It’s no surprise that video of her groovy and uplifting routine quickly went viral.
“Her whole floor routine is ridiculously hard,” UCLA Women’s Gymnastics head coach Valorie Kondos Field told the Daily Bruin . “Every single thing about it, including the backward split that she does after her leap pass — it’s insane.”
No. 2 UCLA gymnastics (1-0) took first place with a score of 197.700 at the Collegiate Challenge on Saturday night against No. 9 California (0-1), Michigan State (0-1), and No. 14 UC Davis (0-0).
A ? isn’t enough for this floor routine by @katelyn_ohashi . ? pic.twitter.com/pqUzl7AlUA
— UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnastics) January 13, 2019
The perfect score for her floor routine is the sixth one of her collegiate career. Ohashi, now 21, is a world-class gymnast who had set her sights on snagging a spot on the U.S. Olympics gymnastics team. She won the American cup in 2013, even beating out Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.
Considering how wildly popular Ohashi’s floor routine is right now, she fully intends to keep competing with it up until the NCAA championships in April. This performance is so stellar she just might bring home a second straight national collegiate title.
Ohashi began training in gymnastics at the age of 3, then competed at her first elite nationals when she was 12 where she placed 10th in the country. She competed with the USA Gymnastics junior national team for four years.
But it hasn’t always been gold medals and praise for Ohashi. She underwent back surgery in 2014 and has endured several injuries, but loves the sport so much that she pushes through any pain.
Her current floor routine is so amazing. You have to watch it!