Gymnastics fans are flipping over this. Laurie Hernandez was destined for Olympic greatness at a young age — very young considering she’s only 16 years old now as she competes at the 2016 Rio Olympics!
In a recently resurfaced video by FloGymnastics, Hernandez is seen performing a level 4 floor exercise. During the 60-second routine, she perfectly executes leaps, splits, a front walkover and even a roundoff back handspring.
“#TBT to little Laurie Hernandez on floor in level 4! Cuteness level off the charts,” the website captioned the clip.
The routine stirred up some pretty strong nostalgia for some since Hernandez was performing at a compulsory level, meaning all gymnasts learn the exact same combination of moves. Once they master it, they can move on to the next level, until they reach optional levels, in which each gymnast choreographs his or her own routine.
“Wow look at her form and presentation at level 4, destined to be an Olympian!” one commenter wrote, while another Facebook user added, “I remember this exact routine but mine definitely did not look like hers.”
The gymnastics superstar, who hails from Old Bridge, New Jersey, took home the gold with her “Final Five” teammates in the team all-around final on Tuesday, August 9, helping the squad to victory with high scores on the vault, balance beam and floor exercise events. On Monday, August 15, Hernandez won silver in the balance beam finals, even overtaking fellow U.S. gymnast Simone Biles, who many regarded as the favorite. Biles walked away with the bronze medal.
“I just went out there with a calm and collected mind-set and just ready to go out there and complete my routine,” she told Us Weekly and other reporters after the balance beam medal ceremony. “Any color medal is amazing.”
Hernandez also told Us that the most exciting thing to happen to her since her Olympics debut was having her favorite musician, Tori Kelly, follow her on Twitter and tweet her. “I was having a really big fangirl moment. I was on the verge of tears,” she said. “A few other celebrities like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, all of those, they tweeted us too.”