Unsure Over Gymnastics Future 24-Year-Old Gymnast Makes Honest Confession After First Perfect Score

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Comebacks, however many we witness, will always be special. But a perfect 10 score on the beam against a dominant team after you have returned from a year-long trip? That is a far-from-ordinary comeback. But this gymnast has always been a sight on the beam. As a redshirt junior, she scored more than 9.900 in all but three of her 13 beam appearances! But the Chicago native had an appetite for adventure. Following successful four seasons with her team, she retired in 2023 and set out to explore unknown lands. On her return to the gym, still having no intention to return, but coach Shannon Welker suggested that Helen Hu pick up from where she left, and so she did, and how!

The University of Missouri gymnast shocked the collegiate gymnastics world on January 17, 2025, earning her first perfect 10.0 against top-ranked Oklahoma. This score marked her first of the 2025 NCAA season and capped an extraordinary journey of resilience and reinvention. Yet, despite reaching this pinnacle, Hu remains strikingly candid about her uncertainty over her gymnastics future.

In an interview with GynmasticsNow on 4th April, Helen Hu made an honest confession after scoring a perfect 10 for the first time. Thanking her club coach, Irina Kudina, Hu stated how her balance, her phenomenal blend of acrobatics, and flexibility are values she has learn from Kudina. “My club coach … really drilled in a strong desire to show off who I am and what I can do.” She added, “My coach’s biggest pet peeve is competing a basic routine. She would say, ‘Why would you do that? If everyone else can do it, why are you even doing it? What’s the point?” Helen completed her especially difficult routine with ease. She began with a tick-tock out of her horse, then a moonwalked backwards on the beam before performing a Y-turn. Then she completed a front aerial to front aerial flight combination and split jump combination and landed her split 3/4 jump on the side of the beam with ease.

Her return has been nothing short of triumphant. Against Oklahoma, Hu’s beam routine—complete with a flawless gainer pike dismount—earned her that elusive 10.0, a score she’d come tantalizingly close to with three prior 9.975s. “When I did get that 10, it was truly such a shock,” Hu admitted to Gymnastics Now. “I was like, ‘This is not reality.’ Tears were coming out.” Helen’s perfect 10 came during Missouri’s road meet at Oklahoma in Week 3 of the NCAA season. Factor in the fact that perfect 10s are a rarity this season, and her feat becomes all the more impressive. Her return on the mat following her year of globetrotting makes it all the more incredible.
The redshirt senior embarked on an 11-month global backpacking adventure with her sister, Elaine, visiting multiple continents. From bungee jumping in Singapore to learning to surf in Ecuador, Helen Hu came back to the United States with stories of a lifetime. “It was a really big journey, not just literally, but for me as a person,” Hu told the Columbia Daily Tribune. The trip offered freedom from the rigid schedules of school and sport, allowing her to reflect on who she was beyond gymnastics. At the time, she had no intention of returning to the beam.
Fate, however, had other plans. In 2024, she returned to be a bridesmaid for former teammate Adalayna Hufendiek. Having stopped by the gym, Coach Shannon Welker reminded her of her remaining eligibility, thus triggering Helen Hu’s return, but she had one condition: if she were to compete, she would do so only on beams and not on bars. Coach Welker agreed, and thus she returned. Now, she seems to be unstoppable as she will be performing in the NCAA semifinals next.

Missouri Gymnastics secures a spot in the national championship semifinals

In a nail-biting finish that came down to the wire, the No. 7 University of Missouri gymnastics team clinched a spot in the NCAA Championship semifinals, marking their fourth appearance at this elite stage in program history. The Tigers’ dramatic second-place finish in the Seattle Regional final on April 6, 2025, with a score of 197.450, edged out Auburn by a mere 0.100 points, securing their ticket to Fort Worth, Texas, for the national semifinals on April 17-19. This triumph ends a two-year drought since their last appearance in 2022 and underscores the team’s resilience under pressure.

The regional final was a rollercoaster of emotions for Missouri. After strong back-to-back scores of 49.300 on vault and bars. But the pressure mounted as leadoff Amy Weir stumbled with an 8.925, and the next four gymnasts posted modest scores ranging from 9.825 to 9.850. With Auburn closing in, it all came down to Helen Hu, the SEC Event Specialist of the Year. Hu delivered a clutch 9.925, restoring Missouri’s razor-thin advantage and sealing their advancement alongside regional winner Oklahoma, who scored a commanding 198.450.

This victory is a testament to the leadership of head coach Shannon Welker, named SEC Coach of the Year, who has now guided Missouri to 10 consecutive NCAA regional appearances. The Tigers’ roster, boasting five All-Americans including Helen Hu, Mara Titarsolej, Amari Celestine, Jocelyn Moore, and Kennedy Griffin, showcased their depth and determination. Hu’s performance was particularly poignant, building on her season of perfection coming from a perfect 10 on the beam in the regional semifinals just two days prior.

Missouri’s journey to Fort Worth offers a shot at history. The program has never reached the final four-team national championship meet, with their best finish being fifth in America in 2022. As they prepare to face the nation’s top teams, the Tigers carry momentum and a renewed sense of purpose, proving they can thrive when the stakes are highest.

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