As the 2025 NCAA gymnastics season unfolds, Jade Carey is proving why exactly she is a 3x Olympic medalist! As the Oregon Beavers swept the BYU Cougars this Saturday, Carey’s skills stood a cut above the rest, thanks to her 9.900+ scores on every apparatus! Tied at 9.950 on the bars and the floor, she took her overall score to a nation-best 39.725 and lifted the all-around event title. Yet, something about her vault routine emerged as particularly special.

When Jade Carey opened the final year of college gymnastics against UCLA, the only apparatus where she slipped lower than a 9.900 was the vault. And that continues to date. Out of 8 scores, 7 of hers till now are beyond that mark. Impressively, she made a strong comeback on the vault today, thanks to a new skill she dabbled with. Keen to know which one?

Up against the Cougars at the Gill Coliseum, Jade Carey nailed a Yurchenko 1.5, aka a Yurchenko with one and a half twists on January 11. This was the second time in her career, both college and elite, that she performed this skill. Thus, when questioned by commentator Alisa Mowe as to why she decided to make that change and to detail the process of learning that vault, Carey made an interesting confession.

The Oregon senior said, “Yeah, um, ultimately, I just wanted to try something new. Try something different.” But, hold up. Experimenting wasn’t her only motto. Apparently, she was looking to go a bit easy on that difficulty level and had reckoned the Yurchenko 1.5 to be optimal for that. “I knew it would be a bit easier for me to do every single weekend. So, yeah,” she remarked.

Well, if you speak about the Yurchenko 1.5, about 10-12 years ago, this skill was among the most common vaults in international competition. But today, it’s slipping towards a rarity on the mats. It involves the gymnast doing a round-off, followed by a flic-flac on, and going into a stretched salto, followed by 1 and a half twists. With a 4.60 value, it isn’t the most difficult one ever. But Jade Carey was still a bit concerned going into it.

Confessing after the event, Carey said, “And I am not going to lie, I was a little bit nervous to compete it for the first time since I’ve literally never done it before. But, I like it so far.” However, this is the very second time in her career that she’s pulled this off. Interestingly, the first time was only a few days back.

Jade Carey has a new favorite on the vault

On January 4, Jade Carey’s Oregon Beavers got off to a good start against Jordan Chiles’ UCLA Bruins and the 2024 national runner-up, the California Golden Bears. While the Beavers finished second in the tri-meet, Carey had a major role to play. With a strong 39.625 on the board, she fueled some much-needed numbers onto the team’s total on the table.

In doing so, Carey’s lowest score of the night came on the vault, where she finished third with a 9.875. However, it was still quite a good number to finish with, and better than many in the league. Interestingly, Jade Carey had opted to debut a new skill that day, the Yurchenko-style vault with 1 and a half twists. She executed it well, hinting that the five-time NCAA medalist is probably looking for another title before she bids farewell to collegiate gymnastics.

But to reach that rank, does Jade Carey have a special vault trick up her sleeve, with the Yurchenko 1.5? After all, there was a time when teams would bring athletes to the world championships and the Olympics specifically because they had a Yurchenko 1.5 to implement. And even elite gymnasts like Nastia Liukin have won the 2008 Olympic all-around with a Yurchenko 1.5. So is Carey looking to recreate that? Let us know what you think!