January 21, 2023, and February 7, 2025. Two dates between which the career of one Jordan Chiles saw breathtaking changes. Two years ago, she was just another gymnastic hopeful. Today she is an Olympic Gold Medalist. Back in Jan 2023, she was still that confused girl who wasn’t sure about her road to elite gymnastics. Now two years later, while she is the same person, it is hard to refuse her claim on the mat. But are there any similarities in Jordan Chiles from those two phases? 

Well, Jordan is the same gymnast who tormented the Washington Huskies on those two days on the mat, donning UCLA’s leotard. Two years ago, she scored 39.225. On February 7, she went higher, concluding the match, scoring 39.575. And if you believe her words, her emotions remained the same both times while performing in front of her home crowd. Anything from Friday evening? 

Jordan Chiles displays her emotions in front of the camera 

Two years ago, the gymnastics match was hosted in Seattle, Washington. On February 7, the match again came to the same place. And fortunately, Jordan Chiles found her place in the Bruins’ lineup both times. “Fortunately”? Does it signify any special note? Well, hailing from Vancouver, Washington, the chance to perform in front of her home crowd has always been special for Chiles.

But after 2022, she didn’t have much of a chance. The reason? Jordan willingly missed the college gymnastics train in 2023 because of her preparation for the Paris Olympics. So, on Friday, she had the chance after two long years. Expectedly, emotions caught her unprepared. After the match against the Huskies on Friday, she let it be revealed. 

As reported by King5.com, Jordan clapped at the support she received from the home crowd in the match. She eventually said, “There was no nerves; I just thought of the support and the warm welcome and everything like that so I really enjoyed it and just had fun.” Without pausing, the Olympian continued to add, “Going against somewhere that I can kind of say ‘home,’ was pretty cool; I loved it.” And how did she prove her side of love? By ignoring a brutal fall. 

Yes. Jordan Chiles survived a major injury scare on Friday, before rotation. Actually, during the vault warmup, she faced a brutal fall while landing. The fall was so severe that it threw her away from the mat. But Jordan came back. She took a break and entered the locker room for a few minutes after the fall. Still, she came back to entertain the crowd and scored 9.850. A perfect treat!

Not only that, her expertise in the floor exercise event earned her 9.950 in rotation 3. While achieving that score, she didn’t show any sign of grimacing, though. Rather, anything that was present was her grinning. But in the gymnastics match, she wasn’t the only one bridging UCLA and Washington. There were a few more.

The linking individuals were all happy 

Apart from Jordan Chiles, UCLA HC Janelle McDonald, assistant coach BJ Das, and freshman Macy McGowan all had the common UCLA-Washington link on Friday. Among them, Macy McGowan kept doing what she did best on the gymnastics mat. She started her day by scoring 9.850 in the uneven bars event. In the next two events, she kept her scoreboard steady on the same mark (9.850). Isn’t that phenomenal? And what about Janelle and BJ Das? 

The coaches earned their prize as UCLA earned yet another victory in this college gymnastics season. The program defeated the Huskies by a scoreline of 197.950-196.125. Meanwhile, the Bruins earned yet another reason to celebrate the day. However, the HC had set the tone of celebration even before the game.

In her conversation with Daily Bruin, Janelle said, “It’s pretty exciting that we have a couple student-athletes and a couple coaches that have a lot of roots up in the Pacific Northwest. To be able to go back home per se and compete in front of our family and friends, it’s going to add a little bit more special feelings to the competition.” Those “special feelings” were present in the Friday night match. Did you feel it?