Jordan Chiles’ Collegiate Career Ends In Elite Eight With NCAA Floor Title

Jordan Chiles of the UCLA Bruins makes a heart-shape gesture after her floor routine against the Utah Utes at UCLA Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California, on March 14, 2026. (Photo by Michael Yanow/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

NurPhoto via Getty Images

Jordan Chiles’ storied collegiate career has come to a close.

Though she didn’t know it while flying through the air, the 25-year-old executed her final collegiate routines late Thursday night. Chiles and the No. 4 UCLA Bruins were eliminated in the second of two national semifinals at the NCAA Gymnastics Championships.

The Bruins needed to finish in the top two of four teams in their semifinal to advance to the final four, dubbed the “Four on the Floor.” Though the Bruins were favored to advance along with No. 1 Oklahoma, uncharacteristic errors from multiple key contributors bogged down the team’s total.

While the Bruins stumbled, the No. 13 Minnesota Golden Gophers surged. Led by Head Coach Jenny Hansen and a handful of star freshmen, the underdog squad upset the Bruins by nearly two tenths to secure the program’s first final four appearance.

The outcome brought visible anguish to the team in Fort Worth, which many touted as the strongest UCLA squad in recent years. The freshman class brought in a trio of elite athletes in Tiana Sumanasekera, Ashlee Sullivan, and Nola Matthews.

Talented or not, it just wasn’t meant to be for the UCLA Bruins.

As the No. 2 gymnast in the national standings, Chiles was also tapped to contend for the prestigious all-around crown with LSU’s Kailin Chio.

That storyline was cut short in the first few seconds of Chiles’ competition on Thursday when the senior fell off the bars on her first handstand. The result produced Chiles’ lowest all-around score of the season.

However, the Olympic gold medalist responded emphatically to help guide her team on the remaining three events. Chiles clinched a share of the National Runner-Up title on balance beam with a 9.95, and followed that effort with a near-perfect 9.975 to win her second NCAA title on floor exercise.

With the results, Chiles finished her career as a four-time NCAA national champion. Though she never clinched a team title with her beloved Bruins, the trailblazing gymnast led her team to a National Runner-Up finish just a year earlier and leaves the collegiate sport with a loaded trophy case.

Before she officially signed off for the night, Chiles received one more award: the AAI award, given to the nation’s “most outstanding senior gymnast.” Chiles is now the fifth UCLA Bruin to hold the honor, joining Donna Kemp, Mohini Bhardwaj, Jamie Dantzscher and Vanessa Zamarripa.