The days of LSU gymnastics‘ struggles seem to be over! After an on-off show early into the NCAA season, the women in purple and gold are now back to showing off some serious defending champions-level skills. With their recent win over the Number#1 team, Oklahoma, the Tigers have secured a three-in-a-row win streak! But a particular performance stood out in the Friday night PMAC meet as a gymnast who had been struggling with her health of late nailed her routine, steering the team to a win. And we must say, it was a champion move! But. who’s that?

With 13,386 fans watching LSU with bated breath, the team had some big shoes to fill. Fortunately, with season-high scores on the vault and the floor, and of course, the meet win, the Tigers did just that. But what stood out to a few fans was the way LSU gymnastics’ freshman Kaliya Lincoln performed. She was a major contributor in the strong floor show, which sealed the 198.050 win for LSU, the first since 2021 when they defeated a Number#1 team. In fact, this was a career-high FX routine for the freshman who just made her floor debut in the meet against Alabama 4 days ago, where she’d clinched a 9.875. And you’ll be shocked to know Lincoln did this while enduring a world of health complications.

In the post-event press conference on February 15, LSU Gymnastics’ coach Jay Clarke commented on Kaliya Lincoln’s performance of the night. With a spectacular 9.925 on the floor, she bagged the leadoff spot, while this was only her second appearance in the event. Yes! Naturally, Clarke had to commend her, which he did while drawing a comparison to another one of LSU gymnastics’ stars, “She [Kaliya Lincoln] is, umm like I said, her demeanor is a lot like Konnor and she is so incredibly gifted physically.” Honestly, we see that spark too, Coach Clarke!

But the backstory behind this, detailed by the gymnastics coach, was hair-raising! Jay Clarke also gave insights into Kaliya Lincoln’s health as of February 2025, saying, “We are kind of holding her together with duct tape right now because you know she is, her knee bothers her so much, you know its going to be repaired after the season’s over.” Kaliya Lincoln injured herself last season when she tweaked her foot on the balance beam during the U.S. Championships and bowed out of the event. Even all through 2022, the gymnast had suffered gravely with injuries. No wonder we saw her with a bandage around her ankle in the meet today!

LSU gymnastics coach Jay Clarke even gave some positive updates regarding the 5x U.S. national team member. He said, “But you know her feet, Achilles has been a lot better. She is not feeling that anymore like she was when she got here, so we took up so much time with her in the fall, we didnt push at all.” Now this is reassuring! No wonder Kaliya Lincoln’s floor routine today was so clean, easy-going, and on-point that the commentator hailed one of her moves as presumably, ‘the best double layout in the world!” 

And no one is alien to the potential she brings to the team. A few days ago, when Clarke was providing updates on the injury-struck LSU gymnastics side, he had sounded positive about Lincoln, “Hopefully, she’ll punch the spring floor this week and see how her body handles it.” And today, he was glad that they gave her all that time to heal and get back to things steadily. In the post-Oklahoma press conference, he said, “But competitively, she is as good as it gets like you just, we are just scratching the tip of the iceberg with her and if we can get her body healthy, in the off-season after this year…. I think you’ll just see exponential growth from her as we go forward.”

And it’s not just Lincoln. Jay Clarke believes her demeanor is quite similar to Konnor McClain‘s, who herself has just bounced back from a similar injury jinx that Lincoln and multiple LSU Tigers have been facing.

What makes LSU gymnastics stars Lincoln and McClain comparable?

Mainly, we believe, the fact that both of them have been through horrifying injuries lately and yet have risen back with all their might is the foundational commonality that shows determination. In May 2024, during a pre-Olympic meet, McClain ended up tearing her Achilles tendon while pulling off a simple warm-up floor routine. This trashed her Paris Olympics plans but, look at how she has bounced back.

In fact, just before their last meet on 14th February, Konnor McClain was so good in practice that the All Things Gymnastics podcast cited, “At LSU’s intrasquad — of note, Konnor McClain did some tumbling on the hard floor. She looks like she could compete tomorrow tbh! Her comeback has been so impressive.” And today, in the Oklahoma meet, while McClain pulled off a massive release move that drew gasps from the crowd (scored 9.925 on bars and 9.800 on beams), Kaliya Lincoln recreated sky-high tumbles on the floor like her. Truly, the two have a lot in common. What do you think? Let us know below!