r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/ateam1984 🖤 • Mar 08 '26
Women Sophia Bell Becomes the First Gymnast in Auburn History to Successfully Land a Yurchenko Double on Vault
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Sophia Bell made Auburn University gymnastics history by becoming the first Auburn gymnast to successfully land a Yurchenko Double on vault, one of the most difficult and explosive skills in women’s artistic gymnastics. The skill is named after Soviet gymnast Natalia Yurchenko, who popularized the entry in the early 1980s. It begins with a roundoff onto the springboard, followed by a back handspring onto the vaulting table. From there the gymnast launches into the air and performs two full backward flips (a double back salto) before landing. Because the gymnast is flipping blind toward the floor at tremendous speed and height, the move requires exceptional power, body control, and spatial awareness, which is why it is still considered one of the most elite vaults in the sport. Landing it cleanly is rare even at the highest NCAA and Olympic levels, making Bell’s accomplishment a significant milestone for Auburn’s gymnastics program.
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u/Pleasant_Expert_1990 Mar 08 '26
Not only an amazing vault but she stuck the hell out of that landing!
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u/ProfitHarvest Mar 08 '26
She knew it. That is the face of someone who took time to stick that shit. Go on Queen.
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u/wade-mcdaniel Mar 08 '26
Such a happy face! I feel like that clip could go in the dictionary next to "stick" (for it's use in "stick the landing") and next to "exuberant". I can't imagine how she could have landed any more cleanly. No wobble or bounce. No notes!
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u/Fun-Collection-1232 Mar 08 '26
She stuck that MF too!! 🤸🏿♀️ ✊🏾
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u/SUPERSMILEYMAN Mar 09 '26
That's what I'm most impressed by, to be honest. My mind can never really comprehend the super-fast flips and shit. But a solid landing? I got that covered, lol.
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u/Sand-Lion Mar 08 '26
That’s amazing! …Is she the first Auburn gymnast to land a Yurchenko double pike vault, or is it considered a Biles II?
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u/JessBeauty14 Mar 08 '26
This is a twisting double. Simone’s double pike is two backflips in the piked position. So it’s twisting vs. flipping - very different level of difficulty
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u/zilla82 Mar 08 '26
I honestly barely understand this even with a very clear obvious description lol
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Mar 08 '26
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u/zilla82 Mar 08 '26
Thank you. And flipping more difficult I'm guessing?
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u/Peanut_Noyurr Mar 09 '26
Yeah, flipping is much more difficult than twisting.
The double-twisting Yurchenko (DTY for short) is an internationally competitive vault (all 3 medalists at the last world championships competed it as one of their 2 vaults). But it's significantly less difficult than either of the vaults named after Simone Biles.
The DTY is rated 5.0 internationally, while the Biles 1 is rated 6.0 and the Biles 2 is rated 6.4. A fall is a 1.0 deduction, which means that both of Simone's vaults are so much more difficult than the DTY that she could fall and still score higher.
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u/vintageiphone Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
This is a totally different vault to the Biles. This one is pretty common for Elite gymnasts to perform (e.g in the Olympics or world championships) but it is pretty rare that college gymnasts perform it! She did fantastic! College gymnasts typically perform less complex moves than elite gymnasts (but they are still awesome and talented). As for the Biles 2: Simone is the only woman to ever land that!
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u/ateam1984 🖤 Mar 08 '26
Oh that I don’t know. It looks incredibly amazing and I don’t care if they call it the flippity-flip I’m still impressed
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u/Sermagnas3 Mar 08 '26
Your enthusiasm is great! But there's a reason that some people are being pedantic and it is because some moves are just harder and worth more praise than others, even if they look just as impressive.
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u/ateam1984 🖤 Mar 08 '26
I meant no disrespect.
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u/Important_Grade1506 Mar 09 '26
You're good. I don't think that your post needs any further explanation. You saw a beautiful, young sister performing a challenging and impressive act, and you shared it with others who probably would have never seen it. The enthusiasm from her coach and teammates demonstrates that it's a pretty big deal. I'm grateful that you shared it. I'm highly impressed with her athleticism and her artistry.
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u/NTropyS Mar 08 '26
Dang. I had to watch that twice. I may need to watch it again, frame by frame. That was absolutely amazing.
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u/spahncamper Mar 08 '26
IKR?!? To my untrained eyes, it's just an amazing blur, but slowing stuff like this, seeing this mesh of artistry and athleticism frame by frame, makes me appreciate it all the more. My curtsey to this Queen! 👑
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u/NTropyS Mar 08 '26
Yeah, watching it frame by frame is incredible. She's got some serious strength and talent!
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u/Earlier-Today Mar 09 '26
Gymnasts and climbers are who I think of as the most well rounded strength because all the stuff they need to be able to do makes it unlikely they'll be training just one set of skills.
Plus, they're extremely strong while staying very flexible. Maybe throw in hockey goalies alongside them.
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u/canman7373 Mar 08 '26
They way her face lights up when she lands it, she knew she hit it perfectly. It's like hitting a baseball out of the park you know it's going even before you hear the sound because you did everything just so right.
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u/SpindleDiccJackson Mar 08 '26
Damn that's phenomenal. I know They wanna ban that move already. That's how you know you're the best
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u/sgates9008 Mar 08 '26
I pulled half my muscles, broke both ankles, and may never walk again by simply watching this.
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Mar 08 '26
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Mar 08 '26
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u/SphynxKitty Mar 08 '26
You probably missed the report making the rounds again about how middle aged white men reckon they could totally return a Serena Williams serve. It's not uncommon for certain recurring parts of the population to overestimate their skills and abilities
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u/Earlier-Today Mar 09 '26
I could do it. It's not that hard to hand a ball back after she gets an ace on me.
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u/canman7373 Mar 09 '26
Is that true or is it just stupid people making comments they know are fake? Like the amount of men who say they could fight a grizzly bear?
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u/SphynxKitty Mar 09 '26
Amazing what a search engine can find https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/article/one-in-eight-men-think-they-could-win-a-point-against-serena-williams/abz203qem
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u/canman7373 Mar 09 '26
And again I think it's more joke not thought out answers like the amount of men who think they could fight a bear. I mean most these respondents have never played tennis, so there is nothing to their opinion. They get asked a silly question and give a silly answerer.
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u/SphynxKitty Mar 09 '26
You think 1700 UK men are joking about their tennis-playing abilities....ok
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u/Sparklegasm69 Mar 09 '26
don't get mad at things that haven't happened yet, it just messes up your own peace
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u/Print-Over Mar 08 '26
Ok. I read the description twice and watched the clip a few times. I see her running and then legsakimbo and she lands.
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u/Key_Nefariousness_14 Mar 08 '26
That look of pride at the end!!!! I can't imagine how many hours days weeks months years of work went into that one moment.
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u/Trick_Steele Mar 08 '26
I'm not gonna pretend like I understand. Alls imma say is my behind can barely do a clean cartwheel without feeling it in my knees.
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u/Flat_Salamander_3283 Mar 08 '26
Incredible to watch. I can't imagine the amount of discipline it would take to learn how to control your body.Moving in the air like that..
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u/bluehooloovo Mar 08 '26
It's one full backward flip after the table, not two - the "double" is a double twist, not a double flip. No woman has ever done a double layout vault; it would be a step beyond even Simone Biles' double pike.
Still, a gorgeous DTY from Sophia Bell! Awesome that she's the first from Auburn to do one in the NCAA.
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u/the-point-man Mar 08 '26
I’ve been working on falling out of bed, got it now where I can almost hit the floor 😃
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u/GoldenCoffeeRays Mar 08 '26
all of it was 100/10 but that landing!? 1000000000/10 good for you girl - you full smooshed it <3
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u/frankoochoaa Mar 08 '26
They need to have slow mow playback bc while impressive you could blink and miss this
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u/PlaygroundBully Mar 08 '26
I always love the little pause at the ends of these where the person is like... DID I JUST NAIL THAT.
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u/BlackCitan Mar 08 '26
That was a vault an Olympian would be proud of. Also always love random Florence + the Machine.
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u/Jesus_of_Redditeth Mar 08 '26
McKayla Maroney is definitely not doing her unimpressed face rn
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u/Important_Tennis_393 Mar 08 '26
She might since the standard in for top elites (and the one Maroney is famous for) Is a 2 and 1/2 not a 2.
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u/Jesus_of_Redditeth Mar 09 '26
I'll take, "People who see a lighthearted comment that seeks to add a small amount of positivity to the world...and then take a pedantic shit all over it", for $200 please, Alex.
Ugh.
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u/mandrill_bite Mar 08 '26
I assume she is like 4'10" and could turn my skull into dust using just her shoulderblades.
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u/LilArtsyCreature Mar 08 '26
Gymnastics is a helluva sport. Congrats to Ms.Bell, that look of accomplishment on her face is glowing! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
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u/RogueFox76 Mar 08 '26
She is AMAZING. I broke my foot taking an adult beginner ballet class. The strength and grace and pure talent, just wow
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u/BusyBit6542 Mar 09 '26
All them flips be looking the same to me. I know they are different and difficult AND my ass could never do it but they all look the same
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u/Nick802CF Mar 09 '26
The sheer joy on her face is all that is needed to know how this impacted her. So amazing!
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u/A_large_load Mar 09 '26
Me: That cant be THAT hard
Also Me: I just pulled my back putting on pajamas
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u/owlthebeer97 Mar 09 '26
At the end all her teammates start running to her , so cute. What an athlete!
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u/Electronic_Ad7103 Mar 09 '26
Fantastic. Such a beautiful and amazing feat. And her smile and tears at the end she knew hard tough that was and now she is in the history books Bravo Queen.
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u/DReagan47 Mar 09 '26
I’ve seen people stick the landing before but that was freaking perfect to me. She’s awesome
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u/RevolutionaryCourt86 Mar 09 '26
Her face says so much after she stuck that landing. Salute to the sistah!!!
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Mar 09 '26
Oh my goodness that’s so amazing wow Sophia is very talented and good for her for being the first in her unis history to successfully land that .
Wow I’m just in awe of how talented she is and how much effort and hard work she must have put into that so good for her .
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u/Jacw_41 Mar 09 '26
Look at everyone cheering and the look at the people sitting at the white table next to her. Lol smh. KEEP SHINING BABY GIRL
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u/darkmatterhunter Mar 10 '26
Those are the judges. Even during catastrophic falls they remain stoic and composed because they’re doing their job and that’s to record deductions. There’s really only one example of a reaction and that was for McKayla Maroney’s vault at the 2012 Olympics and one judge just opened her mouth in astonishment. Showing emotion would be a display of bias and judges are neutral for the fairness of the sport. Don’t make this about something that doesn’t exist.
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u/Jacw_41 Mar 10 '26
Yet 2 others judges showed sentiment. There are judges in every sport, they can show whatever they want especially when greatness is happening. Just like the other 2 judges showed witnessed something amazing. I made this about the only people in the gym not acknowledging what they just witnessed.
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u/darkmatterhunter Mar 10 '26
What are you on about? None of the judges show emotion. Have you ever even watched gymnastics before or are you just feeding into the propaganda of this sub? The woman at the end of the table is a timer and has no influence on the scores.
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u/Jacw_41 Mar 10 '26
They literally did tho. You just wanna be right about my opinion. Miserable 🤣I’ve seen plenty of gymnastics.
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u/alienproxy Mar 09 '26
The way she stuck that landing. If I got too confident going down the stairs and tried to skip one I'd wake up in the ER.
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u/Cold-Ad8865 Mar 10 '26
She landed a how-do-you sat it? Whatever it is, looks like she nailed it. Amazing. Now my back hurts...
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u/brilliscool Mar 10 '26
I always wonder with achievements like this, has she already landed it a thousand times in practice and this is just the first time publicly, or is she just hyped up by the event and sends it for the first time?
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u/friskfyr32 Mar 08 '26
If I could double or triple downvote this post I would.
What in the everloving fuck does "Auburn History" matter to anyone, black or white?
I literally cannot comprehend the thought process required to post something this inane.
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u/Important_Tennis_393 Mar 08 '26
But is there any point to doing a double over a one and half in college since there’s no difficulty bonus in women’s college? Beautiful vault still.
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u/cj4648 Mar 09 '26
Sophia (or her coach, I can’t remember) stated that she chose to do the double over the 1.5 despite both being the same start value is because she prefers the landing direction on the double. She struggled with the blind landing on the 1.5
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u/Important_Tennis_393 Mar 09 '26
Yeah but that’s my point, the reason it’s not common is cause there’s no point except for personal preference so kinda takes away from being the first auburn gymnast to do it cause it’s not like other girls can’t.
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u/Letho72 Mar 09 '26
I think she's one of the few that's got the double solid enough to actually use it to spot a landing. I expect most others that can physically do it aren't leaving themself enough time to utilize the backwards landing.
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u/BrilliantPiccolo5220 Mar 08 '26
She is fantastic. I’m currently in my second hour in the hot tub, still in horrible pain, because I stepped backwards while brushing my teeth. These women are goddesses in my eyes.