Crisler Center was packed with hundreds of cheering gymnastics fans from all around Ann Arbor on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025.
According to many young gymnasts, this University of Michigan gymnastics meet was very intriguing in particular because a certain 2024 gold medal Olympian named Jordan Chiles was there competing for the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
The last time a Team USA Women’s Gymnastics Olympian came to Ann Arbor was on March 12th, 2022. Suni Lee, who won the gold medal in the all-around in Tokyo 2020, competed for Auburn Gymnastics. Crisler Center was sold out that day.
On bars, Chiles made a surprising fall on a Tkatchev (a backwards flip over the high bar). The crowd was stunned, but despite the misstep, she rose back up and jumped back onto the bar set.
Jenna Mulligan from Michigan stuck her vault, scoring a 9.950. Every gymnastics fan in the audience was shaken seeing the score, with Gymnastics fan accounts on Instagram saying that her chest position on the landing was amazing.
Many young gymnasts from all over Ann Arbor were looking forward to this meet: an opportunity to see two incredible gymnastics teams compete in their hometown.
A retired gymnast, Isla Kerr, a freshman at Huron High School, thinks it was really exciting to see Jordan Chiles compete in Ann Arbor.
“Chiles is an incredible gymnast, and getting to see her and UCLA compete locally was an amazing experience,” she said. “I got to see an olympian perform for less than $10.”
A gymnast from Michigan Academy of Gymnastics and sophomore at Pioneer High School, Claudia Mobley, explains why UCLA coming to Ann Arbor was an incredible experience for her.
“I’ve only ever seen videos of UCLA competing — never in person,” Mobley said. “I was also looking forward to seeing their floor routines because I knew UCLA has been known for their floor routines. Now I know why, they were all so creative!”
Mobley adds that her favorite parts of meets are always watching bars and bars warm-ups. Her first Michigan meet was when she was just six or seven years old. She loves Jordan Chiles, who competed right there in Crisler Center against her home team that Sunday.
The excitement got real when Chiles took the floor. Her long-awaited floor routine was elegant yet energetic, set to a mashup of Prince songs. She impressed the crowd with her sky-high tumbling and iconic dive role. Her final floor score was a 9.975 out of 10.
Brooklyn Moors from UCLA also stunned on floor with another incredible 9.975. A front handspring into a double twist, ending with a front tuck was her first pass. Her choreography was absolute perfection. Many on the internet are still advocating for her perfect 10, especially because it was her birthday.
In the end, UCLA won with a team score of 197.550, beating Michigan’s 196.850.
