Good thing Brooklyn Anderson was a gymnast before she took up track, because she needed her previous skills to win the 100-meter hurdles at the Oregon state high school championships on Saturday.
In a video that’s understandably gone viral, Anderson got tripped up as she cleared the final hurdle and somersaulted twice to reach the finish line.
The Oregonian called it “one of the most unique finishes to a race in Hayward Field history.”
And that’s saying something. The University of Oregon’s venerable stadium in Eugene is more than 100 years old and has hosted numerous national championships and Olympic trials, including last year’s qualifiers for the Paris Olympics.
“All I remember is resorting back to my gymnastics career and just somersaulting over that line,” Anderson said after the race. “I wasn’t sure how far back everybody else was behind me, so I knew to just keep rolling, to keep going, because I really wanted to get first.”
Anderson, a junior at Thurston High School, also finished third in the long jump and fourth in the 100 meters.
But her victory in the 5A hurdles was something the crowd flipped over as well.
“Nobody’s ever cheered for me that loud before,” she said.