Viral Video: UCLA Gymnast Nia Dennis Shows Black Excellence During Floor Routine
UCLA Gymnastics showed off some Black Girl Magic over the weekend, thanks to a flawless floor routine from star athlete Nia Dennis.
During the team’s season opening win against Arizona State, Dennis who is a senior at UCLA, brought “Black Excellence” to the floor with a high energy routine that landed her with a nearly perfect score, 9.95 out of 10 and a viral video to match.
With songs by Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Missy Elliott, Soulja Boy, Megan Thee Stallion, and Tupac, Dennis said in an interview with the Los Angeles Daily News, that “this routine definitely reflects everything that I am today as a woman and of course I had to incorporate a lot of parts of my culture.”
“I wanted to have a dance party because that’s my personality and of course I had to shout out LA,” she adds.
This marks the second time that Dennis has performed a gymnastics routine that has gone viral. CBS News reports that in 2020, she hit the floor with a Beyonce-inspired set. The routine included some of the Grammy Award-winning songs like “Ego,” “Lose My Breath,” and Crazy In Love,” earning her another almost perfect performance scoring a 9.975 out of 10.
According to her UCLA biography, Dennis is majoring in sociology and plans to become a physical therapist after graduation.