Gymnast Viral Video – Why Simone Biles’ Gymnastics Routine Goes Viral

Gymnastics isn’t the sort of sport that usually gets much media attention, unless you’re a world-class Olympic medalist like Simone Biles. For the most part, female athletes aren’t given much to work with outside of a major event or season, and once that’s over, they’re pretty quickly forgotten until their next big performance. But every now and then, a young athlete comes along that is able to not only impress the competition but also captivate the media and the public at large with her amazing physical skills on the mat or in the air.

That was certainly the case with a recent routine from UCLA’s Nia Dennis. The collegiate gymnast went viral after she posted a video of her exuberant floor routine that earned her a perfect 10.0 score in an intercollegiate competition last weekend. The clip has more than 34 million views on Twitter so far. But the reason the clip is getting so much attention isn’t just that it’s a great gymnastics routine (though it is that, too). The real power behind it is how it makes you feel watching it.

When you watch it, you can’t help but smile. The routine is a kinetic joyride, with a wide smile and hip-swaying dance moves set to a mashup of music by Black artists like Missy Elliott, 2Pac, and Beyonce. And it’s not just a performance, it’s a statement about the way that women of color are perceived and celebrated.

It’s a very important point, especially as it relates to the way gymnastics is covered in the media. When a male athlete makes headlines with a dazzling routine, it’s almost always because of something big going on in their professional life, not because it was a regular season game or off-year national championship. It’s even more rare for a woman to make the news with a routine, so when one does, it tends to spark conversation and shift the narrative about how women are seen in sports.

The example that most people think of when they talk about gymnast viral videos is the 2012 London Olympics, when Simone Biles won three gold medals. That performance, and the fact that she was able to do it with an injured back, shows that gymnastics is more than just a sport—it’s a way of life.

Katelyn Ohashi, the other gymnast whose viral routine made waves this week, has a similar story. She was an Olympic hopeful competing alongside household names like Biles before a fractured back and two torn shoulders ended her career as an elite gymnast four years ago. She says she had to find her joy again after retiring, and a big part of that was finding the joy in performing. It’s a lesson that many people can learn from.