On a night of Olympians, Jordan Chiles took the front seat in Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The UCLA Gymnastics program displayed its supremacy again in the NCAA gymnastics. Wasn’t that missed before? It was. On January 4, the Bruins met the double attack in Frontwave Arena. The program faced California and Oregon State in the American Gold Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Classic. However, the result didn’t favor Jordan’s program. It faced a thumping loss in the triad meet. But a week later, the Bruins have shown their might. 

On January 11, UCLA bounced back against the triad of Kentucky, Ohio State, and Arkansas Razorbacks. Ultimately, the near-perfect scores from Jordan paved the way for the Bruins to claim the victory. In the end, they had 197.550 beside the program name. Sufficient to go past the ranked opponents! Last week, the program scored 195.250, the Bruins’ third-lowest score in the last 15 years of their participation in NCAA gymnastics. Surely, facts like those haunted the program after last Saturday. 

However, this Saturday, they had the platform ready. In Paycom Center, several Olympians showed up. Take the Arkansas Razorbacks. The program had Jordyn Wieber, Chris Brooks, and Kayla Ross on the coaching staff. The team had Jordan’s elite colleague, Joscelyn Roberson. Also, the broadcasting lineup had Aly Raisman as a commentator. Jordan Chiles chose such a starry evening to announce her perfect comeback in NCAA gymnastics. However, she didn’t appear in the opening event of the night, the beam routine. But in the next three events, she left no doubt. 

In the subsequent events of the floor exercise, vault, and uneven bars, the Olympic champion kept an average score of more than 9.8. Among those numbers, the lowest one came in the uneven bars, 9.850. And guess the highest one? 

It was a floor exercise. Chiles amassed a whopping 9.975, just 0.025 less than the perfect 10. She was almost there to land her first perfect 10 this season. Furthermore, it could have been the first time for the program to witness someone score the perfect number. But the gap remained prevalent. Hold on! The Bruins hit a record today. Chiles’s 9.975 took the Bruins’ score in the floor exercise to 49.600 today. It is the highest score made by any program on the floor exercise this season. Jordan almost created a vibe that she did in Meet the Bruins night on December 14 last year. 

On December 14, Jordan Chiles introduced herself in UCLA’s leotard for the second time in her collegiate career. After almost 2023, it was the first time she was representing the Bruins. So a lot of hype was there! Meanwhile, she did justice to that hype by presenting something extraordinary. After the Paris Olympics, it was the first time she took the floor. She celebrated the moment by performing her floor exercise in the same tune. Her colleagues, support staffers, and fans gave her thunderous cheering. A similar scene unfolded today when the 23-year-old performed her floor exercise. The result is in front of everyone. A near-perfect score! According to her coach and colleague in the UCLA Bruins, the program will continue to perform in this way only by making statements. 

Jordan Chiles’s coach and colleague want to stay in the present 

On January 4, the Bruins watched their dream of having a positive start to the season crumble. The third-place finish wasn’t accepted at all. But they had to accept it and move on. While moving on, they had to choose the way. That could dictate the comeback. As per Jordan Chiles’s teammate, Katelyn Rosen, the path was straight. In a post-game interaction, she said, “We definitely want to make our mark on the Big Ten, and we want to start our legacy in this conference. But again, the focus isn’t on the other teams. The focus is on what we are going to do.” This Saturday, the program displayed what they could do. In the meantime, the Bruins’ coach made sure not to push the team too much. 

In Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, the Bruins made a massive jump from their previous score. But it didn’t cost Jordan and others mental pressure. Credit goes to Janelle McDonald, the Bruins’ coach. Before the match, she said in an interaction, “I’m putting zero weight on how last weekend went, and I am encouraging our team to do that as well. Take the lessons away from it, learn from it, grow from it, and let’s go out next weekend with a really intentional mindset.” Saturday, the result followed suitably. Now, on January 18, the program will go to Maryland to counter the host on its home turf. Another tough challenge? What do you think?