On Wednesday, Danell Leyva proved that the best day of gymnastics at the Olympics has nothing to do with competing. After weeks of trying to defy the laws of physics to earn medals in Rio, the gymnasts were given a chance to perform just for fun at the Gymnastics Gala. There, artistic and rhythmic athletes show up to put on the most chill gymnastics show. I, for one, think it’s the most enjoyable way to watch the sport. With the pressure off, people tend to perform better. The men’s floor routines are improved with the addition of music. And power tumbling receives the attention it doesn’t typically get, because it’s unfathomably not an Olympic sport.
For about two hours, everyone from the biggest names in gymnastics (Simone Biles) to those who barely got any screen time took turns on the different apparatuses. Leyva, who started with a little dance, chose the parallel bars, which earned him a silver medal earlier this week. The routine started pretty normally until he turned upside down and started tapping his feet to the rhythm, looking vaguely like he was part frog. Then, he stood atop the bars and performed a little striptease to Nirvana’s “In Bloom.” He finished the rest of his routine bare-chested, which is honestly how I believe he’d perform if given the chance. Check it out below, because it may be your last chance to see Leyva in action before he moves to Hollywood to try his hand at acting: