Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez throws high-flying first pitch for the Mets
Laurie Hernandez flipped out at New York’s Citi Field on Saturday in the best way possible: The Olympic gymnast, one of the Final Five who helped Team U.S.A. win gold at the recent Rio Games, stuck an aerial flip off the mound before throwing the first pitch for the Mets.
“As soon as I found out I was throwing the first pitch, I was just like, ‘Oh, I’ll throw a flip in there,'” Hernandez told SportsNet New York.
Watch her moment in the video below.
Meanwhile, over at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, gymnast Madison Kocian performed a similar feat. Instead of an aerial though, she showed off a unique handstand before throwing out the first pitch for the Rangers game.
Together with Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Gabby Douglas, these ladies have been winning America’s hearts with their post-games media blitz. In addition to meeting Usher and Zac Efron, they played Hungry Hungry Humans with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show and presented an award at the VMAs, where they got a hug from Beyoncé.
Maybe the Summer Olympics should now add gymnastics pitching to the games.