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UCLA Bruins gymnast Jordan Chiles recently penned a heartfelt note for her teammate Macy McGowan on her birthday. McGowan is currently in her freshman year of collegiate gymnastics in the 2025 season.
This comes just a few days after Chiles' side, UCLA, booked their place for the 2025 NCAA Gymnastics Championships through a second-place finish in the NCAA regional finals. Chiles was also one of the major architects behind the success of the side in the regional tournament, especially in the finals, where she managed an AA score of 39.525.
Following the achievement, Chiles shared a picture with McGowan on her Instagram story and followed it up with a sweet birthday wish for her freshman teammate. Additionally, Chiles also expressed her pride in McGowan's journey in the gymnastics circuit. She wrote:
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"Happy birthday to this beautiful right here @macymcgowan!!! I love you and couldn't be more proud of you!! To many more years and memories"
McGowan was a talented prospect even before she joined the UCLA Bruins program. Last year at the Level 10 Developmental Nationals, she won the all-around title.
UCLA teammate Emma Malabuyo shares her perspective about Jordan Chiles
Jordan Chiles' UCLA teammate Emma Malabuyo recently opened up about the behavior that the former carries in practice sessions at the training facility. Malabuyo is Filipino-American by origin and is an Asian Championships gold medalist in floor exercises.
In an interview, Malabuyo stated that Chiles encourages other gymnasts in the facility to enjoy what they are doing in practice and frequently praises her teammates. Additionally, Chiles' teammate mentioned that Chiles sometimes recalls her incident from the 2024 Paris Olympics when she had to return the floor's bronze medal, especially after having a bad day. Malabuyo said (via ESPN):
"All practice, I hear her like, 'I want you to smile! I want you to celebrate that stick, enjoy it. Then she'll come up to us and be like, 'Wow, that was really good.' Or she'll give a compliment and say, 'You should be proud of that.... I remember she had one difficult day at practice and was like, 'Sometimes it's hard finding my identity with what happened this past summer."
During the same interview, Chiles also mentioned that she was quite unsure of competing in the floor exercises ever again in her career after the incident she went through last year.
