LOS ANGELES — Jordan Chiles folded her arms into her chest as she sank to the floor in the middle of the vault runway. Tears welled in the Bruins star and Olympian’s eyes as coach Janelle McDonald embraced her, seconds before a horde of teammates in blue sequin-laden leotards swallowed Chiles into the center of their celebratory huddle.
There’s very little that Chiles hasn’t accomplished, whether on the international or collegiate stage. Entering Saturday, the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalist had already accrued 11 perfect scores (six on floor exercise and five on uneven bars). Missing from the equation as Chiles entered her senior season in Westwood were her perfect scores on balance beam and vault.
As ninth-ranked UCLA gymnastics swiftly outmatched and outscored Nebraska 197.325-195.250 Saturday, Chiles achieved one of those long-awaited firsts.
Swapping her Servente-Yurchenko half-on, tucked half-off vault to a double twisting Yurchenko (DTY) ahead of the 2026 season, Pauley Pavilion’s first sight of Chiles on vault ended with both judges holding up 10s for the crowd.
Chiles stuck her DTY, sticking her feet to the mat, and stared back at her teammates at the end of the nearly 30-yard runway. The 24-year-old held her arms out like airplane wings, her jaw widening in expressive awe as she turned to salute the pair of judges – shock as reality set in.
“No words could really express how I was feeling,” Chiles said. “Obviously, I was just sitting in the moment. I was surprised myself.”
Earlier this week, Chiles said she’s often thought about how close perfection has come on the apparatus since arriving at UCLA in 2022.
“It’s always on my mind 100%, but sometimes how I think of it is that the journeys and the chapters that I write aren’t meant to be always perfect,” Chiles said.
Vault perfection was no longer a thought, salvaging the team’s rotation for a 49.250 overall score. She’ll now have potentially another 11 meets to land her first 10 on beam.
Chiles – who ranks first in the nation on the all-around and won the all-around with a 39.675 overall score – did come oh-so close to perfection on beam, stalking the judges’ table post-routine to get a sneak peek at her score.
“C’mon Jo,” assistant coach Lacy Dagen roared.
Exasperated, Chiles turned to her teammates, who chanted “10,” and shook her head left to right in response.
The Bruins turned momentarily silent. Perfection would have to wait.
Tying her career-high on the event, landing at 9.975 (receiving a 10 from one judge), Chiles and senior Ciena Alipio went back-to-back with the same score to land UCLA at a season-high 49.625 on beam (the sixth-highest score in program history).
Last season, the Bruins scored above that mark just once. Sophomore Mika Webster-Longin achieved a career-high 9.875, while freshman Tiana Sumanasekera recorded a 9.900 among other beam routines.
“They’re a phenomenal beam team,” McDonald said. “This team is very committed to doing the little things it takes to be great. And I think that’s the confidence you’re seeing on beam.”
Chiles chimed in about what has caused the team’s early-season beam success, pointing attention to UCLA’s second-year beam coach: “Lacy Dagen.”
Sumanasekera wasn’t the only freshman who reached the 9.9-barrier, however. Ashlee Sullivan recorded career-highs on vault and bars, tallying 9.900 on both events.
Sullivan said switching from her “elite gears” to precision-based gymnastics had been difficult, but said her trio of career-highs – also adding a 9.875 score on floor to round out a 49.125 team score – felt “surreal.”
“Today was just such a blast,” Sullivan said.
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