26 Moments That Laurie Hernandez Will Never, Ever Forget
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It's hard to believe that at the beginning of 2016, most of us didn't know who Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez was. The 16-year-old athlete, whose parents are Puerto Rican, is so endearing, she very quickly stole our hearts with her sass on the floor of the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, her moves on Dancing With the Stars, and her sense of humor. Straight ahead we've rounded up 26 of Laurie's highlights from the past 12 months. It's a year she nor us will ever forget.
01
When She Took First Place in the Team Competition at the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships
02
And Then Third Place at the P&G Gymnastics Championships
03
When She Scored the Highest Score on Balance Beam at the US Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team Trials
04
Then Made the Team!
05
When This Throwback Video of Her Floor Routine Made the Rounds
06
When She Made It to Rio de Janeiro For the Olympics and Posed With the Rings
07
When She Was All Sass on Her Team Competition Floor Routine
08
No, Seriously, ALL the Sass
09
When She Gave Herself a Pep Talk Before the Balance Beam Routine
10
And It Totally Worked
11
When She Won Gold With Team USA
12
And Couldn't Deal With All the Excitement
13
When Her Brother Wrote the Sweetest Congratulations Message
14
When She Slayed the Balance Beam in the Solo Competition
15
And Took Home the Silver Medal
16
When She Got to Meet Her Crush, Zac Efron
17
When She Was a Hungry Hungry Human on The Tonight Show
18
When She Attended the MTV Video Music Awards
19
When She Announced She Was Competing in Dancing With the Stars
20
When She Threw the First Pitch For the Mets With a Flip
21
When She Attended the CMA Awards With Her Team
22
When She Made Her DWTS Debut
23
Then Showed Us She Can Tango Like No One Else Can
24
When She Let Her Emotions Show After the Foxtrot
25
When She Told Ellen DeGeneres Her Dance Secret Is Looking Like She's Smelling Quesadillas
26