The moment when US rhythmic gymnast Rin Keys made history, the 16-year-old wasn’t watching.
First to compete in the ball final at the recent Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Keys had gotten her marks, a 29.050, and gone into the back of the competition halls.
She still had one more final that day – ribbon – and needed to relax, refuel and refocus.
“I just rested a little bit, got my mind back together and then warmed up again,” she told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview.
She wasn’t refreshing the scores. She wasn’t expecting the result.
“I didn’t really follow up with the scores because it’s not something that I can control,” Keys explained. “The only result I can control is my own.”
Instead, says Keys, it was her coaches and the US medical staff that broke the news.
At the end of the final, the young American found herself in second place. Her silver medal represents a first for the United States at the World Championships in rhythmic gymnastics.
“I was just taking a break, and then the coaches plus the medical staff looked at me and they were like… showing me the results and said, ‘You’re second,’” she recalled. “And I was like, wait, really?”
“They started coming up to me and congratulating me, and I was so lost. I was like, are you sure?”