Florida gymnast stuns spectators and earns a perfect 10 with a sky-high floor routine set to the Squid Games theme song – after overcoming two agonizing ankle injuries that forced her to quit her Olympic dreams
- Trinity Thomas, 20, blew the audience away and wowed the judges when she competed at a Southeastern Conference gymnastics meet on Friday
- Trinity competed for the University of Florida’s Gators, who beat the University of Kentucky’s Wildcats 197.575 – 197.35, claiming her 20th all-around win
- The young athlete flipped and twirled during the killer floor routine, as the theme song to the popular Netflix series blasted in the background
- Afterwards, the crowd went wild, erupting with cheers over Trinity’s impressive performance, which was branded ‘near-perfect’ by commentators
- Trinity was one of the few gymnasts to train for both NCAA and elite gymnastics simultaneously after she joined the Gators in 2019
- But the star – who is a four-time National Team member – announced she was no longer going to compete in the elite level after suffering ankle injuries in 2020
A Florida gymnast earned a perfect 10 with a sky-high floor routine set to the Squid Games theme song – after overcoming two ankle injuries that forced her to stop training for the 2020 Olympics.
Trinity Thomas, 20, blew the audience away and wowed the judges when she competed at a Southeastern Conference gymnastics meet for the University of Florida’s Gators against the University of Kentucky’s Wildcats on Friday night.
The young athlete, who claimed her 20th all-around win of her career and second of 2022 at the match with a total score of 39.70, received extra attention for her killer floor routine.
Trinity flipped, twirled, and showed off her dance moves during the flawless performance, as the theme song to the popular Netflix series blasted in the background.
Impressive: A Florida gymnast (pictured in April 2021) earned a perfect 10 with a sky-high floor routine set to the Squid Games theme song
Trinity Thomas (pictured at the event), 20, blew the audience away and wowed the judges when she competed at a Southeastern Conference gymnastics meet on Friday night
Trinity (pictured at the event) competed for the University of Florida’s Gators, who beat the University of Kentucky’s Wildcats 197.575 – 197.35, claiming her 20th all-around win
The young athlete (pictured at the event) flipped and twirled during the killer floor routine, as the theme song to the popular Netflix series blasted in the background
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hhBhinIFQaU%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1
Afterwards, the crowd – and her teammates – went wild, erupting with cheers over Trinity’s impressive routine, which was branded ‘near-perfect’ by commentators.
‘Trinity has this way of performing where she does carbon copies every weekend. What you see is what you get here, and what you see is near perfection every time,’ said one commentator during the event.
Florida, who is ranked number two in the division, beat Kentucky, who is ranked number 10, 197.575 – 197.35 in the end.
At the event, Trinity also received a 9.975 win on the balance beam, and took third in the vault with 9.90. She scored a 9.825 in the uneven bars.
Her 10.0 marked her twelfth perfect score during her Gator career – which includes five floor, three bars, three beam, and one vault. She has 89 career event wins in total – the third highest for the Gators.
Trinity, who grew up in York, Pennsylvania, began training at the age of seven. In 2011, she became the Pennsylvania state champion for Level Seven in the all-around and on all four pieces.
In 2013, she placed third at States, ninth at Regionals, and then finished fourth in the all-around at the J.O. NIT competition – where she was named the National Champion on floor.
In 2017, she placed third on the uneven bars and balance beam at the U.S. Classics.
She was then chosen for the U.S. National Team, where she placed fourth in the all-around, sixth on bars, and third on beam and floor.
In 2018, she competed in the Tokyo World Cup, where she won silver, before announcing her commitment to the University of Florida.
That same year, she won gold in the team final and silver in the all-around and on uneven bars at the Pan American Championships.
She also competed in the 2018 U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, where she placed eighth in the all-around, fourth on bars, and sixth on the beam and floor.
She began competing for the Florida Gators in 2019 – making her one of the few gymnasts to train for both NCAA and elite gymnastics simultaneously.
At the 2019 SEC Championships, Trinity placed first on vault, second of floor, and third in the all-around – helping her team come in second overall.
At the event, Trinity (pictured in April 2021) received a total score of 39.70. She also scored a 9.975 win on the balance beam, as well as a 9.90 on vault and 9.825 on uneven bars
Trinity (pictured in April 2021), who grew up in York, Pennsylvania, began training at the age of seven. She is now a four-time National Team member
Many people expected Trinity (pictured earlier this month) to compete in the 2020 Olympics, but she was unfortunately forced to stop her training after injuring both of her ankles that year
At the U.S. National Championships that year, she came in ninth place for the all-around, and placed tenth on the balance beam, 15th on floor, and fourth on the uneven bars behind Sunisa Lee, Morgan Hurd, and Simone Biles.
Trinity was one of the few gymnasts to train for both NCAA and elite gymnastics simultaneously
Many people expected Trinity to compete in the 2020 Olympics, but she was unfortunately forced to stop her training after injuring both of her ankles that year.
In 2021, the athlete announced that she would no longer be participating in elite gymnastics due to the injuries, and instead, would focus on competing at the NCAA level.
‘It was a very difficult decision that took me some time to make,’ she told Inside Gymnastics.
‘It was my goal to compete at the Olympic Trials and I knew with the condition my ankles were in, I was not going to be able to compete to my best ability. I also knew I had future goals and I didn’t want to risk making my ankles any worse, so I decided to focus on my recovery instead.
‘I was devastated for many reasons. However, I am happy to share that my ankle recovery has been going great.
‘I am keeping up with physical therapy to make sure they will be working at their best this season.’
In a 2020 interview with ESPN, Trinity opened up about why she prefers to compete at the NCAA level over elite gymnastics.
‘It’s so amazing because the team is behind you with everything. When you step up there for your turn, you know that they’ve got your back,’ she explained.
‘They’re there for you, and they’re supporting you. You can just hear them screaming for you when you’re going. It’s just so encouraging and super supportive and super fun.’
She began competing for the Gators in 2019, and at the SEC Championships, Trinity placed first on vault, second of floor, and third in the all-around – helping her team come in second
In 2021, the athlete (pictured in 2021) announced that she would no longer be participating in elite gymnastics due to her injuries, and instead, would focus on competing at the NCAA level
The Gators shared a clip of Trinity’s floor routine from Friday’s competition to Instagram, and it received a lot of positive responses from people online
The 20-year-old added that her confidence is much higher when she’s competing for the Gators versus when she’s competing on her own.
‘The differences between the two are big differences, but I feel like they kind of help each other out. When you’re throwing huge skills in elite gymnastics, it’s hard to be confident,’ she said.
‘I always struggled with confidence even though people always told me that I looked like I was confident out there. I think college gymnastics has helped me to have more confidence in myself.’
The Gators shared a clip of Trinity’s floor routine from Friday’s competition to Instagram, and it received a lot of positive responses from people online – who branded it ‘incredible’ and ‘extraordinary.’
‘Beautiful routine! What a explosion of power and grace at the same time,’ wrote one user.
Another added: ‘Huge role model for my daughter, thank you.’
‘Absolute gorgeousness, she sets the standard for sure. Congrats,’ gushed someone else.
A fourth comment read, ‘Truly gorgeous! Perfect form on tumbling. Legs together even in slow-motion! Chest up on landings. Leaps incredible. Fun dance. Love it.’
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