Jade Carey is the reigning Olympic gold medalist on floor, but there was no guarantee she’d make a seamless transition to collegiate gymnastics. After all, she had to learn new routines and find out which tumbling passes she wanted to keep and which she wished to “water down” for floor (since, compared to elite-level scoring, the NCAA focuses more on execution than difficulty).
As it turns out, however, Carey transitioned just fine. And actually, more than just fine. As a freshman at Oregon State University, Carey snagged three perfect 10s (two in floor, one in vault) and rounded out the regular season as the top-ranked all-around gymnast.
Back on the NCAA stage as a sophomore, Carey just. keeps. crushing it. As of March 2, she is the highest-ranked college gymnast in the nation (again) and has already scored four perfect 10s this season – including two on floor. Watch the video of her performance – including her perfect-10 performances on floor and bars – from the meet at Stanford on Feb. 24.
Her current floor routine is set to a dramatic orchestral rendition of The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It, Black” and opens with a huge first pass: a double-double, an incredibly difficult move that involves doing two backflips and two spins in a tucked position. She continues to wow during her second and final pass, a front layout to double pike.
Carey won the all-around at the Stanford meet with a score of 39.875, the highest score in the country so far this year. Her score helped Oregon State secure its highest meet score in program history. The season will culminate in mid-April with the 2023 NC Women’s Gymnastics Championships in Forth Worth, TX.
Beyond the NCAA season, the 2024 Paris Olympics are looming, and Carey has made it known that she hopes to represent the USA on the Olympic floor once again. She and fellow Tokyo medalist Jordan Chiles made history in August when they became the first US Olympic female gymnasts to follow up a season of college gymnastics with a return to elite competition, per NBC Sports.
In February 2022, shortly after Carey received her first NCAA perfect 10, she told POPSUGAR she couldn’t choose which moment – winning her Olympic gold medal or getting her first collegiate 10.00 – meant more to her. They were both special, she said, and both would “last a lifetime.”
Image Source: Oregon State Athletics
– Additional reporting by Lauren Mazzo
