Former Missouri  gymnast Helen Hu announced her return to the competition floor and will compete for the Tigers in the 2025 season. 

Hu is back on the Missouri gymnastics roster despite initially retiring from the sport in 2023. She began competing for the Tigers in the winter of 2020. 

A breakout star, she recorded multiple high numbers in her freshman season including 14 scores of 9.9 or better in a variety of events. This is the highest individual total for a Tiger gymnast since 2010. Hu also earned a score of 9.9 or better on balance beam in nine-of-ten meets she competed in her freshman year. 

In 2021, Hu spent the year recovering from a preseason injury. She returned to competition in 2022 where she continued her impressive performances. She posted a 9.95 on beam four times in the 2022 season, as well as earning a 9.9 on bars. 

During the 2023 season, Hu tied her career best on beam with a 9.975. She also tied her career best on bars with a 9.95.

Due to her injury, Hu only competed three years in college gymnastics. Hu had two more years of eligibility due to her redshirt injury year and the extra year of eligibility given to athletes who competed during COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the remaining eligibility, Hu graduated from Missouri and officially retired in 2023.

The opportunity for Hu to return to the sport was offered to her in an unusual way. 

“When that opportunity presented itself, I just found myself unable to turn that down,” Hu said. “I was visiting Missouri for a previous teammate’s wedding, and was visiting the gym while I was in town, and that’s how this opportunity kind of came up…I felt really lucky that all of that lined up with that timing.”

The decision to return to the sport took some convincing from Missouri gymnastics Head Coach, Shannon Welker. 

“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.”

Originally, Hu took Welker’s offer to return as a joke, but once she knew he was serious, she couldn’t get the idea of returning out of her head.

“I thought he [Welker] was joking,” Hu said. “I didn’t take it seriously. But then he kept talking about it and pretty much within that week, by the end of the week, I was laying in bed at night unable to fall asleep, thinking, wow, what if I did beam again.”

Hu spent her year off backpacking and traveling around the world.

“I traveled 14-to-15 countries,” Hu said. “I was jumping [to a] different place every two or three weeks, staying at hostels and backpacking with my sister. It was plans that we had made when we were stuck in quarantine together.” 

Hu took the time to enjoy different aspects of life outside of gymnastics. She learned how to surf, worked at a hostel and did lots of hiking. Some of these activities came as a challenge to her. Hu’s athlete mentality kept her motivated to continue pursuing these new adventures. 

“I really kind of just got to explore who I was outside of the sport,” she said. “Surfing was so hard, for four straight weeks, I was just face planting into the water, getting absolutely wrecked by these waves and it was really humbling.” 

Hu was able to take something away from her time traveling and exploring. She regained motivation to keep on with her activities.

“I was like, Okay, wow, you still suck at a lot of things, Helen, you have a lot to learn in this world,” Hu said.  “It made me so motivated that I was supposed to leave that place in a month, and I stayed an extra month just so I could learn how to surf better.”

For her comeback in the 2024 season, Hu’s focus is set on beam. While bars was one of her strongest events, beam is where she feels she can best help the team. Focusing solely on beam also helps  keep Hu’s body intact after a career filled with knee and back injuries. 

“I did do a couple giants [on bars] a few months ago,” Hu said. “I think beam is where I can really help the team the most.” 

Small changes should be expected to Hu’s routine compared to seasons prior, Including a new mount, a new dismount being a gainer pike off the front of the beam and completely new choreography. Other than these changes, the routine remains the same. 

Hu has a career high of 9.975 on beam, meaning that at least one of the two judges awarded the routine a perfect 10.0. A goal for Hu this year is to obtain that perfect score, a bucket list item she has yet to achieve. 

“I’m going to focus as hard as I can on presenting the best routine I possibly can and hopefully one of those times both judges will agree on no deduction,” Hu said. 

For now, Hu trains in her club gym in Chicago, planning to join her teammates in Columbia in December. Hu’s training is done completely alone, which is a change for her. She trains on beam for about an hour each day. 

Hu’s accolades rank her amongst the top Missouri gymnasts in the history of the program. Due to the pandemic and the timing of her injuries, her career was cut short. Hu’s return to the sport is surprising, and it could not come at a better time for the Tigers. 

Hu’s return is another addition to a talented roster. The squad includes Jocelyn Moore, the first Missouri gymnast to ever earn a 10.0 on floor,  who has also reached perfection on vault. It also features Mara Titarsolej, the first Missouri gymnast to score a 10.0 on bars. 

Welker feels Hu’s comeback speaks highly of the Missouri gymnastics program. 

“I think this is a really cool story,” Welker said. “I think it speaks not only highly of Helen, but I think it speaks highly of the culture that we have here at Mizzou gymnastics.”

Hu will make her return to Missouri gymnastics at the Black and Gold preview on Dec. 18. 

Edited by Michael Stamps | mstamps@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Hannah Taylor | htaylor@themaneater.com

Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com