97-YEAR-OLD GYMNAST STILL INSPIRES THE WORLD WITH INCREDIBLE TALENTS
There are people who remind you that age is just a number. Johanna Kuaas is a 97-year-old German woman who was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest active gymnast in 2012.
Over the years, Kuaas has been a huge hit on the internet after videos of her workouts have been posted from time to time. The most recent of these was a clip shared by Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis with the following message: “You are my spiritual warrior!! wow!! GOALS!!!!" This video was filmed at a gymnastics festival in Germany in 2017, when the gymnast was 91 years old.
Quaas first captured the world's heart after user Lieve Daffy shared a video of a gymnast's floor and uneven bars routine at the 2012 Tournament of Masters. Within 6 days of posting, each received over 1.1 million views. Both clips now have over 3.5 million views. Her ability also attracted some of the greatest athletes in her field, such as Simone Biles, who said that her parallel bars routine left her speechless.
Born in 1925, Kuaas started her gymnastics at an early age and when she was 10 years old she first competed in gymnastics. She spent most of her life coaching gymnastics and handball, but returned to active gymnastics at the age of 56. In 2015 she received the Nadia Comaneci Award for Sportsmanship from the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, after which she retired from competition due to discord biceps in 2018. But that hasn't stopped Kuaas from sharing her amazing moves on her Instagram, especially the fact that she can still stand on her head. If that's not enough, she stretches and plays soccer.
But the most touching part is her warm messages she receives from people all over the world. "You are such an example, Miss Johanna!" One user writes and another says: “Wishing the Best of Health to an AMAZING woman, who is my biggest inspiration! Much love."