Jade Carey is officially an Olympic gold medalist!
With a score of 14.366, the 21-year-old gymnast took the top spot in the women's individual floor exercise final on Monday, August 2. "It means everything to me," the athlete told Today's Hoda Kotb after her gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. "This is all I've ever dreamed of and all I've ever worked for and I'm really glad it paid off tonight."
For Carey, confidence was key in securing the gold. "I just had to remember that training has been going well," she shared with Kotb. "So I just needed to do me and to do my normal routine."
That "normal" routine included a series of difficult tumbling passes, during which Carey soared through the air with ease. As Carey stuck each landing, her teammates could be heard cheering her on from the sidelines.
After learning of her golden victory, Carey got to celebrate with her coach, Brian Carey, who also happens to be her dad. "He said, 'You did it! You're an Olympic champ!'" she recalled. "And then I almost started crying. I think I did cry, actually."
This win for Carey comes one day after she placed eighth in the vault competition. Reflecting on her vault performance, which included a tripping mishap, Carey told Kotb, "Last night was definitely hard for me, but I just had to remember I wasn't done yet and we still had floor. So I needed to put it behind me and give everything I could into floor."
Next up for Carey? She'll be cheering on her teammates Simone Biles and Suni Lee as they compete in the balance beam final on Tuesday, August 3. This will mark Biles' return to the Olympics after withdrawing from five previous gymnastics finals in late July to focus on her mental health.
As fans await the final gymnastics competition, celebrate Carey's golden win by watching her jaw-dropping Olympic floor routine above! Plus, learn seven facts about the athlete below:
"Jaderade," she told NBC Olympics. "It was given to me at gym one day when I was younger."
She is from Phoenix Ariz. She graduated from Mountain Ridge High School in 2018.
Jade has been doing gymnastics since she was a toddler, according to USA Gymnastics.
"I have been in gymnastics for as long as I can remember," she told NBC Olympics. "My parents owned a gym when I was born so I was always in the gym playing. I love the feeling of learning new skills and flying through the air."
She continued, "My parents have been very influential. They were both gymnasts when they were kids and are both coaches now. My dad coaches me."
In addition, Jade's sister Taeva, one of her three siblings, is also a gymnast.
"At home he's just my dad and at the gym he's just my coach," Jade told The Arizona Republic newspaper in January 2020.
In 2017, Brian told Flogymnastics.com, "I knew a long time ago she had potential," adding that he "just didn't want to push her too fast for her, and so we just let her develop at her pace."
"We definitely leave everything gymnastics at the gym," he added. "So we walk out the door and we don't speak about it."
From 2017 to 2019, she earned one gold and three silver.
Jade will soon continue her gymnastics career at Oregon State University. She signed a letter of intent with the college in 2017 and deferred enrollment until the end of the 2020 Olympics. The school's Beavers women's gymnastics team already has her on their roster for the 2022 season.
Jade's favorite TV shows are Impractical Jokers and Full House, according to USA Gymnastics.