A year ago, Missouri Tigers’ gymnast Helen Hu was nowhere near Hearnes Center. Instead, the Redshirt Senior, who had a stunning retirement in 2023, was in the small beach town of Las Tunas, Ecuador, serving travelers at a hostel, catching waves when she could, and living a completely different life with her sister. Honestly? Life couldn’t have felt further from a balance beam. She and her sister, Elaine, who were just two free spirits on a backpacking trip around the world last year, for the thought of returning to gymnastics? Nowhere on the radar! But “Life is unexpected—just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” And for Hu, who was off chasing sunsets and stories, the idea that she’d not only return to the mat but also become a historic part of Missouri gymnastics? That was unthinkable until it wasn’t!

Fast-forward to April 17, 2025. Honestly? You couldn’t have scripted it better. Missouri, the No. 7 seed, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with gymnastics giants like Oklahoma, Florida, and Alabama at the NCAA semifinals in Fort Worth. The Tigers were chasing something they’d never touched before, a spot in the national title meet. And what, you ask, did it come down to? Hu else. Helen Hu.

Mizzou was clinging to the slimmest of margins; I am talking about 0.025 points here, 0.075 there. It was a back-and-forth thriller. The Tigers had one event left, which was the balance beam. Florida had bars. And as the scores rolled in, the drama? Off the charts. At one point, the Gators pulled ahead by 0.1125. Then Mizzou’s Addison Lawrence nailed a 9.9125. Boom. The Tigers were back up by the tiniest sliver of 0.025.

But again, Florida answered. One last swing on the scoreboard. Now trailing again, it all came down to Mizzou’s final beam routine. And stepping up was none other than Hu, the same Helen Hu who, a year ago, was barefoot in Ecuador, not even thinking about gymnastics. Now, she was back. SEC Event Specialist of the Year.

She already with three perfect 10s on beam this season. And she had one job! Well, what? She had to score at least a 9.8875. Talk about pressure? Immense, and what about the stakes? Sky high. Hu delivered a beam routine that was straight poetry, elegant, composed, electric. She scored a 9.9875. And just like that, Mizzou made history.

They beat Florida by a tenth of a point, 197.3000 to 197.2000. Advanced to the finals for the first time. Oklahoma took first. Florida and Alabama were out.

Scores:

• OKLAHOMA: 197.5500 (Q for finals)
• MISSOURI: 197.3000 (Q for finals)
• FLORIDA: 197.2000
• ALABAMA: 196.8250

Helen Hu’s unexpected retirement comeback

Honestly, if you’d told Helen Hu a year ago that she’d be back on a beam, she probably would’ve laughed it off. Back in 2023, she had officially stepped away from gymnastics. Chronic back pain from a permanent spinal fracture—specifically spondylolisthesis—had made competing unbearable during her senior season. She couldn’t even finish regionals, and that was it. The chapter was closed. Or so she thought.

What may you ask turned things around? A wedding invite. Yup, it was her friend Schrimpf’s 2024 wedding that unexpectedly opened the door back to the sport she thought she had left behind. At the time, Helen had already embraced a new life—one filled with travel, food, and self-discovery. With Elaine, she spent months backpacking across the globe, and more. Her body had time to heal, and her mind was completely detached from gymnastics.

But then came Columbia, Missouri. She was in town for the wedding and crashed with current Missouri senior Jocelyn Moore. One day, she tagged along to the gym—just for fun. Just to watch. Just to stretch a little. But when she stepped on the beam after 15 months… something clicked.

Then coach Shannon Welker casually dropped a bombshell: “You know you still have one more year of eligibility, right?” Helen laughed—surely, he wasn’t serious.

Spoiler: he was. And by the weekend, Hu was all in. “Once I opened that door in my mind again,” she said, “my love for gymnastics came rushing back.” she said to ESPN.