Two days ago UCLA Gymnastics posted a video of a floor routine by 21-year-old Katelyn Ohashi. 630,000 likes and over 160,000 comments later, the video has been spread like wildfire across social media, and garnered worldwide attention.
Why? The routine is nothing like the sometimes stuffy and pretentious sequences we’re used to seeing from gymnasts. With moonwalking, shoulder rolls and what looks like a very chic rendition of the robot, this floor routine is like nothing you’ve ever seen before.
‘The power drop into the splits bounce up at the end is mind bending,’ commented Twitter user @jameshrh. ‘The power moves in modern floor routines are ridiculous. Awesome + sauce.’
‘I've never considered myself a fan of gymnastics but I could watch this over and over,’ wrote @thausman. ‘Her passion is inspiring and completely infectious.’
While the video has sparked more joy than Marie Kondo’s folding skills, there’s a sad story behind Ohashi’s beaming smile.
A recent video about Ohashi by The Players Tribune reveals that it hasn’t been an easy journey for the American artistic gymnast, CNBC reports.
Ohashi was an Olympic hopeful competing alongside household names such as Simone Biles before suffering from a fractured back and two torn shoulders. ‘I was compared to a bird that couldn't fly,’ she said. Ohashi decided to retire from elite competition four years ago, but still practices gymnastics while at the University of California (UCLA).
‘At the time, no one really knew what I was going through. I couldn't accept myself. Gymnastics was my worth,’ Ohashi recalls in the video. She then decided to leave behind the competitive mindset she had been used to, and pursue the sport for fun and her own satisfaction – something that resulted in the joy-filled routine she performed this month.
According to UCLA Gymnastics, Ohashi will be performing the routine again at Bruins in Pauley Pavilion on Monday, Jan. 21, let’s hope it’s filmed again for those of us not in the US who need a pick me up during this very cold January!