Watch Gymnast Danusia Francis Live Out Her 11-Second Olympic Dream — All With a Torn ACL!

Jamaican gymnast Danusia Francis had the dream to become an Olympian ever since she watched the Sydney Olympics at 6 years old. Now in 2021, that dream is a reality, as she was able to perform alongside her fellow Olympians. Unfortunately, she found out on Friday, July 23, that she had a torn ACL on her left knee and had to withdraw from competing in the balance beam, the vault, and the floor routine. But she was still able to perform on the uneven bars — she couldn’t execute her entire planned routine, but she performed nonetheless.

The 27-year-old had hoped to perform her whole bar routine, but doctors were worried it would cause further damage. So on Sunday, with her left knee heavily wrapped, she performed simple maneuvers on just the lower bar, including two toe-ons, and ended with a gentle dismount on her right leg. She earned a 9.033 execution score, but her degree of difficulty was an understandably low 0.5. After training 22 years for this moment, she was able to live 11 seconds of her Olympic dream and finish with a beaming smile!