.@evanmanivong ties his career-high with a 14.750!
We’re not sure what was on that card either…π
#Illini πΆπ· pic.twitter.com/jAEcd0L1ub
β Illinois M Gym (@IlliniMGym) March 22, 2021
Running full speed toward a stationary object (as Haley Graham describes in Stick It) is terrifying, as are the flips onto and off of the vault. To stick the landing after flipping and twisting in the air repeatedly is incredible in itself, but University of Illinois gymnast Evan Manivong, a sophomore, added a little extra flare to what he confirmed was a Kasamatsu with one-and-a-half twists in a laid out position. (This is similar to, but not the same as, a Tsukahara, typically just called a “Tsuk” for short.) Once he landed this vault, seen above, he pulled out a flash card from his leotard, showing it off proudly. Spoiler alert: it was his COVID-19 vaccination card!
“It’s my vaccination card… go get vaccinated everyone!” Manivong, who was recently named a College Gymnastics Association regular-season All-American on the vault, wrote on Twitter afterward. He received a 14.750 for this vault on March 22, which tied his career-high (note: men’s collegiate gymnastics is not scored out of a 10.00 like women’s collegiate gymnastics; it uses the same scoring system seen in elite gymnastics).
Way to go, Manivong: you got a stuck landing and a vaccine jab stuck in your arm to help the US achieve herd immunity. That’s quite the accolade indeed!
