
29 Jan Behind the Scenes of the First Perfect 10 of 2025: Helen Hu’s Story
By Nate Salsman
An Unexpected Return
When Mizzou’s Helen Hu burst into the NCAA world in 2020 she immediately became a fan favorite. Her display of flexibility and rare skills made her unique among her competitors. From the start of her career she was known as a beam queen. In 2020 she earned two 9.975s on the event. After her freshman year, she tore her ACL, taking her out of the 2021 season. In 2022 she returned, helping her team qualify to the National Championship. That year she earned three 9.950s on beam. In 2023, she added another 9.975 to her list. It seemed Hu was going to retire without ever getting a perfect 10.0. Due to injuries, Hu did not consider taking another year of eligibility.
“The entirety of my senior year in 2023 the entire coaching staff kept being like, ‘you’re gonna stay for that fifth year, right’?” Hu said. “Like, you gotta take the fifth year, you’re not leaving yet.’ “I mean, even my teammates were joking how I’m not actually leaving come spring 2023. So I repeatedly turned them down and Shannon, because he was really, really persistent. And I guess his persistence really eventually paid off. But in 2023, I had fully decided that I was not going to do gymnastics again. I have some chronic pains in my back, because I have a Spondylolisthesis, which is a permanent fracture, and for whatever reason, that was flaring up a lot in the last couple weeks of season in 2023. That was really, really difficult, because it causes nerve pain. And when that happens, no amount of Advil can really help that. When we were at regionals, I remember being in so much pain that as sad as I was that we didn’t make it to Nationals, I was like, I don’t even know if I could get that point two weeks from then, I didn’t know if I could keep going. That felt like my body telling me it was time to retire and be done.”

An Adventurous Year Off
Little did Hu know at the time that she would eventually return to the sport and get her long-awaited perfect 10.0. Hu spent the year off traveling abroad with her sister. Fulfilling the plans they had made during the pandemic. They traveled to 15 different countries, forming new experiences along the way. She learned how to surf, worked at a hostel, did lots of hiking and got to try new foods.
“I’d say I had some of my absolute favorite foods in Vietnam and Thailand and everything there was just, insanely cheap. And I think that also just made it easier to enjoy things you just felt like a king walking around, just a massive bowl of fu was just $1 in US dollars. India was really cool because that’s where I got my yoga teacher certification. And it was a really cool time to reflect and meditate and kind of just think about who I am in my life. The other top spot would probably be Ecuador. Ecuador is where I learned how to surf, and I spent two months there surfing.”

The Return
Hu spent an entire year traveling abroad. When she started the trip she did not have an exact return date. However, she knew she wanted to be back in time for former teammate Adalayna Hufendiek-Schrimpf’s wedding. Hu visited Mizzou’s gym and head coach Shannon Welker when she was in town for the wedding. She hopped on the beam just to see if she had maintained any of her skills. It was Welker who suggested Hu to return.
“She came into the gym and she just hopped up on the beam and did her old beam routine,” Welker said. “And I’m like, ‘Man, that looks good still.’ And I said, Why don’t you let us take care of your schooling, right there? Then at the end of that practice, she goes. ‘Are you serious about the classes?’ And I felt like, at that point I might have had her.”
That day was the first time Hu had been back on gymnastics equipment since graduating in 2023. Hu is known for her incredible flexibility. This flexibility was easy for Hu to keep up with. With more time on her hands, she actually improved her flexibility.
“I actually really enjoy stretching and yoga,” Hu said. “In my first few months on my travels, I actually went and got yoga teacher certified, and so I did a three week course where all I did every day was meditation and yoga, and I got, more flexible during that time. Because of my various injuries and things, if I don’t maintain stretching on a daily basis, I actually feel like things start getting tight, and my body just doesn’t feel good when I’m not stretching regularly. I think because my whole life I’ve been doing the extreme end of flexibility, but my whole life I’ve been using that range of motion. Even not doing gymnastics, when I start getting tight, it just doesn’t feel good for me.”
Long Awaited Perfection
The moment many gymnastics fans have been waiting for, Helen Hu reaching perfection. During the dual meet against Oklahoma Hu was the final beam routine of the night. Hu moved flawlessly through her routine and completed it by sticking her brand new gainer pike dismount. Both judges agreed that Hu executed a deduction free routine. Hu was shocked by the score.
“I was completely and utterly shocked, I didn’t know how to react,” Hu said. “I had just finished high fiving everyone because I was super excited about the routine I had competed. I knew it was super good and it felt as clean as it could be, but I’ve done that before, so I wasn’t sure if I really would get that 10. When they did flash it, I think my knees buckled a little bit. I started crying. I didn’t know what to do with myself.”
The adrenaline from Hu’s routine took some time to wear off. Her routine was reposted by ESPN, she was then featured on SportsCenter’s top 10 and had many other viral tweets made about her beam routine.
“I was so wired after the meet, I just had all this adrenaline going, and I was so excited that I got the 10,” Hu said. “I was in shock, and I was definitely in the social media rabbit hole for a good few hours there. I had gotten home that night after midnight, I just could not fall asleep, and I still had my meet hair in and I was just on my phone. Like, wow, this is real. I felt like I kept having to re watch the video and all the posts to fully process that had happened. But it was really cool, because I didn’t know that it was a big deal that the first 10 hadn’t happened yet in the NCAA, because I hadn’t been keeping track of that. I had no idea that everyone was waiting for who’s gonna break it first? That was also an added layer of achievement for that weekend.”
One change from her typical routine was not doing a scale after her flight series. This change was suggested by Welker in order to play it safe.
“I had a bad turn in warm ups, and he was just like, ‘let’s just see what it’s like without the scale.’ And after I got the 10, he was like, ‘I think this is the move for us.’ I think we need to stick to this. I was like, ‘Okay, this is fair’,” Hu said.
Hu will continue to train the scale and hopes to potentially compete it again later in the season.

Enjoying the Process
In this unexpected return to the sport, Hu’s biggest goal was to achieve the perfect 10.0. With that goal accomplished, Hu has a little less pressure on her shoulders. Now she can focus on helping her team accomplish their goals and most importantly having fun.
“We always have the same concrete goals,” Hu said. Being in the top half of the SEC, being top 10 in the country, being in Texas for national championships, all of those things. But for me, I’m just here to have fun. Honestly. I want to be here for the team, obviously, and be a good source of support for everyone and really solidify this beam lineup. But my main goal and focus is just having fun and being happy and really taking in all that college gymnastics has to offer.”
Last week Hu added another 9.975 in the dual meet against Kentucky.
Hu and the rest of the Missouri Tigers are already off to a strong start, and will continue their season this Friday against LSU.

Photo Credit: Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics magazine; Mizzou Athletics
Look for Nate’s NCAA Notes each week and stay tuned to InsideGym.com and Inside Gymnastics magazine for spotlight features and interviews throughout the 2025 season!
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