Rhythmic gymnast's 'Thriller' routine goes viral as Olympics viewers say 'they've never seen anything like it'

Viewers watching the rhythmic gymnastics at the 2024 Paris Olympics have been left wowed after one routine left them saying they've 'never seen anything like it before'.

Taking place on Thursday (8 August) in the Adidas Arena, the women's rhythmic individual all-around competition got under way with its qualification stage ahead of Friday's final.

With four routines to complete for each gymnast, every athlete is tasked with producing their best performances with the ball, hoop, clubs, and ribbon. The score are then added up to create a final total.

The routine that left viewers wowed was during the hoop round, with those watching on left in amazement at what was produced by Ukraine's Taisiia Onofriichuk.

Aged just 16, the Ukrainian produced a piece of floor work to the beat of Michael Jackson's epic hit 'Thriller'.

The routine saw her use the entire floor space to performance with the hoop, seamlessly spinning it around her body and up and over her limbs.

Onofriichuk also threw the hoop up to nine metres in the air, blindly catching it with feet and legs on multiple occasions.

It even saw Onofriichuk incorporate classic dance moves from the 'Thriller' music video, mostly from the iconic zombie dance scene.

The routine ended with Onofriichuk throwing the hoop metres up in to the sky before bouncing it off her back and in to her hands for a perfect finish that lined up with the end of the music.

Over on X, one viewer said: "The 'Thriller' performance at the Olympics is absolutely mesmerising! Combining rhythmic gymnastics with such iconic music is next-level creativity."

Another wrote: "WOW! She is spectacular! I've never seen anything like this! Let's go Ukraine."

And a third posted: "The way the entire crowd claps to the beat for her. She is such a natural performer."

You have to see it to believe the words being said as it is genuinely brilliant:

Onofriichuk made it to the final of the rhythmic gymnastics event, scoring 34.250 in the hoop event and finishing fourth overall. This was after months of uncertainty surrounding if she'd even make it to the Paris Games in the first place.

"We didn't know if we would even get here, because during the last attack before we left, we thought we wouldn't survive," Iryna Blokhina said, referencing the ongoing Russian invasion of her homeland.

Speaking to Reuters, Onofriichuk said: "This moment means a lot more to me than people can imagine.

"I felt calm inside... I'm incredibly proud to be representing Ukraine right now, especially during war and the conditions that we're training in, under bombs and under daily attacks."

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