The U.S. Gymnastics Championship ended on Sunday night, and three young Black women notably claimed the first, second and third place spots.

Konnor McClain, Shilese Jones and Jordan Chiles (aged 17, 20, and 21, respectively) claimed the honor, and they were rightfully showered with praise on social media for comprising the championship’s first all-Black winners’ podium.

“I never thought this could happen, ever,” McClain said after she was named the competition’s first-place winner, Team USA reports. “It’s so unreal, and I honestly can’t believe it. I’m still in shock a little right now.”

“My confidence has grown so much just in the last couple months,” she continued. “Just doing routines over and over again and knowing I can do the routines and coming to the competition knowing I can make it too. It’s such a big difference being so confident.”

 

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A post shared by Konnor McClain (@konnormcclain_)

 

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According to the NCAA Demographics Database, only about 9% of Division 1 women’s gymnastics athletes self-identify as Black, while 63% identify as white and 23% belong to other racial/ethnic groups.

As a result, three Black women securing the top spots at the U.S. Gymnastics Championship is definitely something to praise, as it fosters positive representation and helps show others that their dreams are attainable.

“It’s pretty cool that kids will look at us, just the way we looked at Simone, and say, ‘Yeah, if she can do this, maybe we can do this too,'” Chiles said ahead of the Tokyo Olympics last summer, according to The New York Times. “Representation matters, you know.”

Konnor McClain, Shilese Jones and Jordan Chiles’s shared accomplishment coincides with Fisk University ushering in the first-ever women’s gymnastics program at a historically Black college or university (HBCU), as Blavity previously reported; the team had their first practice earlier this month.

Shoutout to McClain, Jones and Chiles!