Cassidy Cu earns gold medal at gymnastic world championships

Three girls, clad in sequined leotards with American flags on the hip, hold a strong stance until the music starts. Then they begin to dance. You blink once, and one of them is now standing on the other’s shoulders. Blink again and the smallest has now climbed to the top and pressed up into a handstand, forming a human totem pole. 

Sophomore Cassidy Cu represented the United States in the World Championships for Acrobatic Gymnastics in Baku, Azerbaijan from March 10 to March 13. Cu competed in a trio alongside 22-year old Victoria Blante and 19-year old Eily Corbett. The trio placed sixth in the dynamic portion of the competition but earned a bronze medal in the combined portion, and a gold medal in the balance portion. 

Cu began working with Blante and Corbett only three years ago but has been doing acrobatic gymnastics for around eight years. 

“My favorite part about doing acro is learning the skills and performing them,” she said.

In acrobatic gymnastics, all team members need to trust each other; the majority of what they do involves people balancing on each other and people being thrown up and caught. Cu is the smallest person in the trio, meaning she is the one that has to balance at the top and be tossed up and caught by her teammates. 

“It is fun working together, but it took time to build trust,” Cu said.

This year was the trio’s second year in a row representing the United States in the world championships. Last year, the trio competed in Geneva, Switzerland, and placed sixth. 

“I think we worked harder last year, but it was more fun this year because we got to see the friends we made last year,” said Cu.

Due to Covid, there were some adaptations made to the competition, such as limiting the number of spectators. However, there were many other people that Cu got to meet.

“It was really cool seeing all the different countries and meeting new people,” she said.