Left “Speechless” Simone Biles Didn’t Overlook to Honor Twice Viral 98-Yr-Previous Gymnast in 2017

Simone Biles, 27, has been pushing the age barrier in gymnastics, a sport the place athletes usually retire early. On the 2023 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships, Biles made historical past by profitable her eighth U.S. all-around title and turning into the oldest lady to attain this feat, following it up with a ninth title in 2024. As Biles herself places it, “I use the phrase, ‘aging like fine wine.’” This yr in Paris, with only one gold, Biles may turn into the oldest American lady to win Olympic gold in gymnastics and the oldest lady within the sport to win gold for the reason that Soviet Union’s Polina Astakhova did at age 27 in 1964.

Nevertheless, alongside Simone Biles, one other phenom is breaking all age boundaries because the world’s oldest gymnast. This gymnastics queen isn’t only a sensation; she’s gone viral, charming audiences worldwide. Let’s rewind to how Simone Biles confirmed her admiration for this 98-year-old gymnastics marvel with a heartfelt gesture lengthy earlier than she turned an web sensation.

How Simone Biles gave the world’s oldest gymnast a healthful shock

In a Reddit publish from the subreddit r/toptalent, the account shared a viral video of Johanna Quaas, a 98-year-old gymnast from Germany, acknowledged because the oldest lively gymnast alive. The video exhibits Quaas performing a shocking routine on the parallel bars to Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.” She effortlessly executes a full cut up atop the bars, wows the group with flawless planks and a head plank whereas gripping the bars, and wraps all of it up with an ideal touchdown that sends the viewers wild.

Whereas the video continues to do the rounds on the web, years in the past Simone Biles had already paid her respect and admiration for Johanna Quaas on NBC’s “Little Big Shots: Forever Young” in 2017. Again then, at 91 years outdated, Johanna Quaas dazzled the viewers along with her parallel bars routine, leaving Biles “speechless.”

Based on TODAY, host Steve Harvey even invited Biles on stage to shock and honor Quaas. By 2012, movies of Quaas’s routines had already gone viral on YouTube, racking up hundreds of thousands of views. Biles herself talked about that the U.S. Olympic gymnastics crew usually discovered inspiration in Quaas’s performances. Reflecting on this heartwarming second the place two gymnastics legends related, let’s check out Johanna Quaas’ journey and the way she has frequently set the world document because the oldest gymnast.

The journey of gymnastics queen Johanna Quaas

German-born Johanna Quaas began competing in gymnastics on the age of 10 and hasn’t stopped since. Her journey spans again to 1934, and regardless of taking breaks to boost a household, she returned to gymnastics in 1982 and has been devoted ever since. Quaas gained worldwide fame when, on March 26, 2012, YouTube consumer LieveDaffy uploaded two movies of the 86-year-old coaching in the course of the Event of Masters in Cottbus—one on the parallel bars and one other of a ground train routine. These clips rapidly went viral, every garnering over 1.1 million views inside six days of posting. That yr, in 2012, Johanna Quaas secured the Guinness World Document because the world’s oldest gymnast at 86 years outdated.

Now virtually on the century mark, Johanna continues her rigorous gymnastics routines not only for competitors but additionally as a safeguard towards falls in her outdated age. Johanna stays a robust competitor, usually competing in age teams the place she stands alone, equivalent to when she dominated the 70-75 age class at 84 years outdated, claiming first place. Reflecting on her achievements, she informed The Strait Occasions, “My proudest moment so far was when I was 84 years old and there was no one in my age group competing in the championships.”

Regardless of her age, Johanna stays lively, coaching day by day for an hour and sustaining a nutritious diet wealthy in fruit and veggies. Her spirit is as vibrant as ever, as captured in her well-known quote, “My face is old but my heart is young. Maybe the day I stop doing gymnastics is the day I die.” In a sport like gymnastics, the place most elite feminine gymnasts retire of their early to mid-twenties, Johanna Quaas continues to defy boundaries, proving that age is actually only a quantity. As Simone Biles continues to rewrite the document books herself in 2024, their assembly in 2017 holds profound significance. What are your ideas on their journeys? Share within the feedback beneath!