Life can change drastically in a jiffy, and Helen Hu is the perfect example of the same. Just a year back, Hu was catering to travelers at a hostel in Ecuador. However, within a span of 365 days, Hu is standing on the verge of NCAA gymnastics glory. Coming back after a temporary retirement, Hu’s path to glory was not filled with rose petals. Despite earning a perfect 10 previously, the semifinals were a whole different ball game. Going up against staunch opponents such as Florida, Oklahoma, and Alabama, Hu wanted to make a deep impact. And while she did succeed, Hu seemed quite nonchalant about her not getting a perfect 10 score. 

The Missouri girls are in the NCAA finals for the first time. While this is old news, a lot is left to be said about the one person without whom things would have been blurry for Missouri. With Oklahoma running away with the first position, it was an extremely tough competition. As Florida threatened to clinch the second spot, it was Helen Hu who decided to step up to the occasion. Coming up on the beam, Hu pulled off a stunner to enthrall the crowd. She got a score of 9.9875 to steer her team clear of Florida. However, there was one small thing bothering Hu.

After the judges’ score came up, most fans thought that Hu was robbed of a perfect 10. It was because of her elegant and near-perfect display. However, coming into the post-game ceremony, Hu seemed quite humble about the same. When asked about whether she should have gotten a perfect rating, Hu opined that it totally depended on the judges, and she was absolutely fine with it. “You know, I’m not entitled to a 10 from every judge, so l’m okay with that,” said Hu. She also went on to say that there is a particular way for her to do things. And she keeps believing in her methods irrespective of the score she gets.

“Gymnastics is subjective. So, I mean, my dismount was really close. I think my toes might have scraped the edge of the beam before I landed,” Hu continued. She also pointed out how her split three-quarters might not come out perfectly all the time. Hu thinks she has more often than not failed to hit a full 180 degrees for long enough. Moreover, her foot, too, was probably a bit to the side in the semis, as per Hu. Thus, it is quite evident that Helen Hu loves to have her feet on the ground. Thus, despite leading her team to semifinal glory, she is looking to continue the good work in the finals. Surely enough, the same resilient words echoed when Hu spoke about her comeback sometime back.

Helen Hu gets candid about her vulnerable yet fearless comeback

Helen Hu didn’t just return to gymnastics. She stepped back into a world that had evolved without her. A year away from the sport, spent far from the beam and closer to hostel beds in Ecuador, gave her distance. But rejoining the Missouri Tigers meant facing a different kind of challenge. Helen admitted, “They all knew my name, but I didn’t know half of theirs.” The pressure to reconnect with a reshaped roster left her anxious. Hu added, “It was so nerve-wracking; I didn’t want to mess up and call someone the wrong name.”

The former SEC beam champion, now ranked No. 2 in the nation on the beam, wasn’t just fighting to reclaim her spot. Rather, she was working to earn her place in the team’s chemistry. Her approach was meticulous. She studied the team roster like it was a final exam and took every NCAA-permitted trip to Columbia to familiarize herself with her new teammates. Helen Hu shared, “Even when we were cheering at practice, I’d wait for others to start just to make sure I wouldn’t yell the wrong one.”

Her comeback has been more than just an emotional quest. After retiring her full dismount, Hu dared to teach herself a new gainer pike. “It was a new challenge for me,” she said. One that mirrors the emotional growth she’s shown in her second act.