“I became an elite gymnast when I was 12 years old,” Katelyn Ohashi wrote in ESPN’s 2019 Body Issue, in her own words. “The Olympics was the ultimate goal, but it was never my goal.” USA Gymnastics listed her as “Katelyn Ohashi of Plano, Texas/WOGA.” “When I was 14, I started hearing comments about my weight,” she wrote. “People whose opinions I valued said this to me.”
Her back started bothering her “right before my first senior competition, the American Cup in 2013,” she wrote. “It got worse and worse. It was like a vertebra was sticking out.” She won anyway: “Katelyn Ohashi of Plano, Texas/WOGA, won the all-around titles at the 2013 AT&T American Cup inside the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.,” USA Gymnastics reported, and “Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/Bannon’s Gymnastix, finished second with a score of 57.666.” Years later, the University of California noted that “she is one of the last to beat U.S. gold medalist Simone Biles in competition.” “By the time I got home -- after winning the competition -- I was in tears,” Ohashi wrote. “My mom asked, ‘Aren’t you happy?’ I was like, ‘No, I’m broken.’”
“They told me I might never do gymnastics again,” she wrote. “When I was coming back, about a year later, I tore my shoulder, so I had to get surgery for that as well. It was a full two years before I could step back onto the competition floor.” “I was forced to back away from the sport, and it was such a relief because I had been so miserable for so long.” “It took a full year for me to miss gymnastics. That’s when I called Miss Val [Valorie Kondos Field] at UCLA.” “I told her I didn’t want to do the Olympics anymore. I changed my path to college gymnastics and knew I wanted to go to UCLA.”
UCLA’s program was “led by the innovative choreographer and former ballet dancer Valorie Kondos Field (‘Miss Val’),” the University of California wrote, and Ohashi said: “It took me finding Miss Val, and UCLA, and having a different goal and path to follow, to finally find joy and love within the sport again.” On January 12, 2019, at the Collegiate Challenge in Anaheim, “A near capacity crowd at the Anaheim Convention Center turned out,” Cal Athletics reported, and “Floor exercise was one big dance party for the Bruins,” UCLA Athletics wrote. “Performing to a mashup of Earth, Wind and Fire, Janet and Michael Jackson, and Tina Turner,” in the University of California’s words, “Ohashi topped all floor exercise performers with her fourth career perfect 10 on floor,” UCLA Athletics reported.
The judges were “awarding her a perfect 10.0 score that helped UCLA win the 2019 Collegiate Challenge,” the University of California wrote five days later, and “the video of her performance went viral, generating more than 40 million views.” “I haven’t been able to feel this type of happiness in a long time,” Ohashi said. “I found my joy, my voice, my self and my love for the sport.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- She had just beaten Simone Biles, but she told her mom, “No, I’m broken.” USA Gymnastics (March 2, 2013): “Katelyn Ohashi of Plano, Texas/WOGA, won the all-around titles at the 2013 AT&T American Cup inside the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.”; “Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/Bannon’s Gymnastix, finished second with a score of 57.666.” University of California: “she is one of the last to beat U.S. gold medalist Simone Biles in competition.” Ohashi, in ESPN: “By the time I got home -- after winning the competition -- I was in tears. My mom asked, ‘Aren’t you happy?’ I was like, ‘No, I’m broken.’” 231
- Her name is Katelyn Ohashi. UCLA Athletics (January 12, 2019): “Ohashi topped all floor exercise performers with her fourth career perfect 10 on floor.” UCLA Athletics (February 12, 2019): “UCLA’s Kyla Ross and Katelyn Ohashi were awarded Pac-12 weekly honors.” 45
- She became an elite gymnast at 12, chasing an Olympic goal that wasn’t hers. Ohashi, in ESPN: “I became an elite gymnast when I was 12 years old”; “The Olympics was the ultimate goal, but it was never my goal.” USA Gymnastics: “Katelyn Ohashi of Plano, Texas/WOGA.” 12
- By 14, she was hearing comments about her weight. Ohashi, in ESPN: “When I was 14, I started hearing comments about my weight.” 1
- Those comments came from people she trusted. Ohashi, in ESPN: “People whose opinions I valued said this to me.” 1
- Her back got so bad, she was told she might never do gymnastics again. Ohashi, in ESPN: “my back started bothering me. It got worse and worse. It was like a vertebra was sticking out”; “They told me I might never do gymnastics again.” 1
- Then she tore her shoulder and needed surgery. Ohashi, in ESPN: “When I was coming back, about a year later, I tore my shoulder, so I had to get surgery for that as well. It was a full two years before I could step back onto the competition floor.” 1
- Forced to stop, she called it a relief. Ohashi, in ESPN: “I was forced to back away from the sport, and it was such a relief because I had been so miserable for so long.” 1
- A year later, she missed gymnastics and called UCLA’s coach, Miss Val. Ohashi, in ESPN: “It took a full year for me to miss gymnastics. That’s when I called Miss Val [Valorie Kondos Field] at UCLA.” University of California: “UCLA’s program, led by the innovative choreographer and former ballet dancer Valorie Kondos Field (‘Miss Val’).” 13
- She told Miss Val she didn’t want the Olympics anymore. Ohashi, in ESPN: “I told her I didn’t want to do the Olympics anymore. I changed my path to college gymnastics and knew I wanted to go to UCLA.” 1
- At UCLA, she found her joy again. Ohashi, to the University of California: “It took me finding Miss Val, and UCLA, and having a different goal and path to follow, to finally find joy and love within the sport again.” 3
- In January 2019, she danced through her floor routine. UCLA Athletics (Anaheim, January 12, 2019): “Floor exercise was one big dance party for the Bruins.” University of California: “Katelyn Ohashi’s floor routine on January 12, 2019”; “Performing to a mashup of Earth, Wind and Fire, Janet and Michael Jackson, and Tina Turner.” Cal Athletics: “A near capacity crowd at the Anaheim Convention Center turned out.” 436
- The judges gave her a perfect 10. UCLA Athletics: “Ohashi topped all floor exercise performers with her fourth career perfect 10 on floor.” University of California: “awarding her a perfect 10.0 score that helped UCLA win the 2019 Collegiate Challenge.” 43
- The video passed 40 million views. University of California (January 17, 2019): “the video of her performance went viral, generating more than 40 million views.” 3
- “I found my joy, my voice, my self and my love for the sport,” she said. Ohashi, to the University of California: “I haven’t been able to feel this type of happiness in a long time. I found my joy, my voice, my self and my love for the sport.” 3
Sources
- Katelyn Ohashi: ‘I wanted to bring the joy back to gymnastics’ (2019 Body Issue, in her own words, September 4, 2019) ESPN
- Dalton, Ohashi win 2013 AT&T American Cup (March 2, 2013) USA Gymnastics
- Perfection (and joy) (January 17, 2019) University of California
- UCLA Wins Collegiate Challenge with 197.700 (January 12, 2019) UCLA Athletics
- UCLA’s Ross, Ohashi Earn Pac-12 Weekly Honors (February 12, 2019) UCLA Athletics
- Bears Post Season High At Collegiate Challenge (January 12, 2019) Cal Athletics
Notes
Her age that day: her essay says “I was 16 years old, right before my first senior competition, the American Cup in 2013”; by the birth date Wikipedia gives, she was 15. The Short gives no age for that day.
The American Cup: Simone Biles led after two events and fell on the beam, USA Gymnastics reported. The Short says only that Ohashi beat her.
Her words: the Short says “people she trusted”; her own words are “People whose opinions I valued.”
The views: local TV reports gave about 20 to 24 million within days; the University of California said “more than 40 million” on January 17, 2019. The Short uses that figure.
Janet Jackson: Ohashi wrote in ESPN that Janet Jackson tweeted about the routine, but we found no such tweet, so it isn’t used.
Katelyn Ohashi is alive. Only meet results, official reports and her own published words are used; her body and health appear only in her own words, quoted. Simone Biles and Valorie Kondos Field are named only for their part in these events.
Pictures: we found only two free photos of Katelyn Ohashi, both by Susie Butler at meets in Seattle; no free photo shows the 2013 American Cup or the January 12, 2019, routine in Anaheim, and every picture of that routine we found is agency, university or broadcast work, so none is used. She is in her floor routine for UCLA in Seattle on March 19, 2016, and in her floor routine for UCLA at Washington, in Seattle, on February 10, 2019, a meet where she also scored a perfect 10 on floor (cropped to leave out the photographer’s watermark and logo); neither is the Anaheim routine. Simone Biles is at the Rio 2016 Olympics with her team gold medal on August 9, 2016, three years after the American Cup (Fernando Frazão, Agência Brasil). Valorie Kondos Field, “Miss Val,” stands at the right edge of a photo of a UCLA gymnastics meet in Pauley Pavilion on March 14, 2010 (Parker Michael Knight). The DCU Center in Worcester, the American Cup’s venue, is seen on June 21, 2025 (Farragutful); downtown Plano station, in Plano, Texas, on October 10, 2015 (Michael Barera); Royce Hall at UCLA on October 10, 2019 (Beyond My Ken); and the Anaheim Convention Center, the venue of the 2019 Collegiate Challenge, on September 3, 2013, not on the day of the meet (Tuxyso). The other people in these photos are not named.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
