After receiving two medals in the Rio Olympics, Laurie Hernandez is back and ready for more competition. Although this time her competition is different. This time she is competing with celebrities instead of olympians and the sport is dancing instead of gymnastics.
Just a month after the Olympics in Rio, 16-year old Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez is a contestant on the new season of Dancing With the Stars . The season premiered on Monday September 12, 2016 on ABC. The show pairs celebrities with dance professionals. There are 13 total celebrity-dance professional pairs on the show and they all compete against each other for judge’s points and audience votes. The pair with the lowest combined votes is eliminated from the show every week until only one pair remains.
The new season has plenty of competition with some of the celebrity contestants being top notch athletes just as Hernandez. Fellow olympian Ryan Lochte and NFL player Calvin Johnson are the other featured athletes out of the group of celebrities on the show.
The Duo
Hernandez is partnered with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy. The duo took first place in the premier. This doesn’t come as a shocker to anyone who watched her shine at the Olympics. It would appear as though Hernandez has a leg up on the competition. Her impressive background in gymnastics is not all that different from dancing. Chmerkovskiy is a two-time World Dance Champion. Hernandez skills in gymnastics will aid her in mastering tricky dance moves to come this season. Good things are expected to come from the Hernandez-Chmerkovskiy pair.
On the season premier, the pair scored 31 out of 40 possible points to come in first. They have been the fan favorite throughout the show, dominating the competition throughout the fourth week where they scored 32 points. Hernandez came in first again and dominating the competition. In the fifth week, however, the pair gave what some called a “disappointing” performance. Now, in week seven, they bounced back with an impressive performance dancing the quickstep and earning 34 points. Team Valaur is heading to week 8!
You can vote for Hernandez by dialing 1-800-868-3407 or online at either or Facebook. Don’t forget to stay tuned on Hernandez’s progress Monday’s at 8p.m. on ABC and the Nimble Sports Blog!
