After winning gold for Team USA at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil, gymnasts Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas, and Madison Kocian, –a.k.a. the “Final Five“– have been unstoppable!
Most recently, the girls (except Douglas, who did not join) got to hang out in The White House, meet the Obamas, and even take over The White House’s Instagram account.
As you’d imagine, 16-year-old Laurie had the time of her life hanging out with LOTUS and POTUS. Here’s everything she and the girls did during their invasion of The White House.
They couldn’t contain their excitement as they stepped into The White House and took over the official Instagram account.
There is something so satisfying about being petty or watching a petty situation take place. That is exactly what we are seeing right now with a petition asking for New York City to rename a stretch of 5th Ave. in front of Trump Tower to President Barack H. Obama Avenue. Obama’s name has been used to rename some roads in the U.S. already and people are pushing for that trend to land right on Donald Trump’s doorstep.
A petition on MoveOn.org is calling for NYC to rename a portion of 5th Ave. after President Obama.
Credit: @CNN / Twitter
The petition started as a joke but it quickly gained attention and speed and has continued to grow. So far, more than 360,000 people have signed the petition and are hoping the Mayor Bill DeBlasio listens to their request.
Some are not sure if it will happen but so many people are really pushing for the change.
Credit: @arosebluch / Twitter
“The City of Los Angeles recently honored former President Barack Obama by renaming a stretch of the 134 Freeway near Downtown L.A. in his honor,” reads the petition. “We request the New York City Mayor and City Council do the same by renaming a block of Fifth Avenue after the former president whose many accomplishments include: saving our nation from the Great Recession; serving two completely scandal-free terms in office; and taking out Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind September 11th, which killed over 3,000 New Yorkers.”
While the petition is being taken seriously by some people, others are just here for the show.
Credit: @ayymiPAPITO / Twitter
We all love to see some next level pettiness and the people who created this petition, and support it, are giving people all kinds of life.
“I saw a comedian joke about how it would make Trump so mad if it was named after former President Obama and thought why not,” Elizabeth Rowin, the author of the petition, told Newsweek.
Some see this as a justifiable bout of karma.
Credit: @PamLukas3 / Twitter
Yet, the request is already failing one key factor for a street renaming in NYC. According to ABC7NY, individuals honorees have to be deceased for two years prior to consideration for such a dedication. There is also a moratorium on street renamings in that part of New York City further complicated the issue.
Regardless of the viability of the street renaming, people are completely invested in this happening.
Credit: @EarlOfEnough / Twitter
It isn’t clear if the letter and petition will or will not be sent to Mayor Bill DeBlasio. He is running for the presidency right now and it might serve as a good way to grab some headlines if he pushes it through. Just imagine Donald Trump having to put “President Barack H. Obama” on his business cards, letterhead, and outgoing mail.
To say, American gymnast, Simone Biles can’t practice her athletic art form under pressure is to completely misunderstand her strength. The 22-year-old from Colombus, Ohio, has already accomplished what many can’t even fathom. This week the Olympic gold medalist made history on the competitive mat just a couple of days after she confronted the USA Gymnastics for failing to protect her, and more than 150 women, from a sexual predator.
On August 11, Simone Biles landed perfectly after doing a triple-double at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Kansas City.
Let us break down what that actually means because it truly is a thing of beauty. Biles successful jumped into the air and completed two flips and three full twists and stuck the landing. She tried to do this exact move on Friday but failed on the landing. This time, however, Biles landed it amazingly. She’s the first woman to have ever completed this move.
This move is no easy fete for the 4’8 gymnast. As someone on social media noted, Biles, at the peak of her jump, is close to 10 feet off the mat, which is two feet higher than the high jump world record. Insanity!!
On Friday, she also made history by pulling off a double-double dismount off the balance beam.
That means she did two twists and two somersaults like its no one’s business. All of these historic firsts garnered Biles a record-tying sixth all-around title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships. So who could possibly have the same title as Biles? No one in the past several decades, that’s for sure. In the 1940s and 1950s, American gymnast Clara Schroth Lomady also received the same honor of sixth all-around.
After her historical landing, Biles was quite pleased with her performance.
Credit: Instagram/@simonebiles
“That feeling when you make history…. twice,” she said on Instagram. And this is all build-up to the main event. Biles, of course, is headed to Tokyo next year for the 2020 Olympics, where’s she’s naturally going to add on to her gold medals, but no pressure. (!!!)
Her incredible routine is quite impressive when you consider that the star athlete is competing for organizers who were enablers in her own sexual abuse.
Last year, a Michigan judge sentenced Dr. Larry Nassar, a physical therapist, 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing more than a hundred gymnasts some were as young as six years old. The abuse lasted for decades, and Biles was one of his victims.
On August 7, Biles told reporters that it was the U.S. Gymnastics Championships and other institutions that assisted Nassar in his abuse by protecting him.
“You had one job. You literally had one job, and you couldn’t protect us,” Biles said in her addressed statement to USA Gymnastics, according to CNN. ‘It’s hard coming here for an organization, having had them fail us so many times. We had one goal. We have done everything that they asked us for, even when we didn’t want to, and they couldn’t do one damn job.”
Despite Biles’ horrific abuse she endured, her moves on the mat show her incredible strength and dedication to the sport.
Credit: Instagram/@simonebiles
The Texan native said she wasn’t sure if she’d succeed in those now-groundbreaking landings. She said, however, that she was striving for ultimate perfection, even if that meant failing the first time. Sounds like she’s a firm believer of the motto, “if at first, you don’t succeed, pick yourself up and try again.”
“I feel like I compete for perfection,” she told the Olympic Channel days before her competition, “so whenever I don’t do that, it really irritates me.”
Biles also told the network that she doesn’t even think about her titles and records until someone brings it up to her in conversation. Talk about humble. If Biles doesn’t do the bragging, her friends and fans will do it for her.
Several fans, including celebs, touted her magical moves on Twitter.
As for the future of gymnastics in the U.S., and their beloved athletes, Li Li Leung, the president, and chief executive of USA Gymnastics, told CNN, that understand they are to blame for their part in their abuse and are doing everything they can to change the culture of silence.
“One of our goals is for our athletes to feel comfortable in speaking up and sharing their opinions, and we are listening to what they have to say,” Leung said. “We will continue to work hard to demonstrate to Simone and all of our athletes, members, community, and fans that we are working to foster a safe, positive and encouraging environment where athlete voices are heard.”
