The 2026 LSU gymnastics’ season was filled with many historic moments for the program, but one of the most notable stats was the perfect 10 total that the team acquired over the year.
This season, LSU saw 10.000 flash across the scoreboard a total of 14 times, 13 of which belonged to Tiger superstar Kailin Chio.
The sophomore came into the year with only a single career 10 earned her freshman season on vault. Now, the gymnast owns 14 perfect career scores, that include five on beam, three on floor and six on vault.
What’s even more impressive is the fact that the last perfect ten Chio earned this year was in the NCAA Championship final round, where her Yurchenko one-and-a-half earned a 10 from all six judges on the panel. With this, Chio became the first gymnast to earn a 10 in the NCAA championship since 2023 and the first in program history to earn the score in a championship.
“She’s the definition of consistency,” junior Konnor McClain said. “It’s just so amazing to watch and I cannot explain how incredible it is to just know what she’s gonna do every single time on every single event.”
Fellow sophomore Kaliya Lincoln was the season’s other perfect scorer, as she earned the first of her career in the regional final round, as the last routine of the night.
Controversially, fans argue that the Texas native deserved the score long before that as she has garnered a total of three 9.975s on the floor exercise this year. Even more so, before scoring her 10, Lincoln didn’t see a score below 9.925 on floor since the team’s second meet of the season.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Chio said. “She’s [Lincoln] done so many floor routines that deserved a 10. It was just so great to be able to celebrate her and celebrate all of her hard work.”
It’s a similar story for a couple more Tigers, as the team has come close to gathering more 10s than what’s on record this season.
Amari Drayton and McClain in particular have spurred talk about being robbed of perfect scores this season among fans.
Drayton, who has yet to accomplish the achievement in her collegiate career, seems to come closer and closer every year. This season, her stuck vault at the Podium Challenge was given a 9.950 and in the following week, she received a 9.975 against Florida on the road.
Over on floor it’s a similar story. Part of the reason Drayton having not received her perfect score isn’t due to lack of talent, but simply because she runs near the middle of the lineup in each event.
Because scores haven’t built up by the fourth or fifth routine, Drayton’s high scores don’t display the shortcomings of a perfect performance but rather the exceptional talent of her gymnastics as she finds these scores where most gymnasts don’t.
McClain has been on the cusp of a 10 multiple times this season on the bars and beam events. Though the junior found three perfect scores across these events her freshman season, this year has been a bit more difficult.
McClain’s bar sets against Auburn and Florida in particular received 10.000 from judge one, but scores of 9.950 given from the second judge at each meet resulted in a 9.975 for both routines.
On beam, McClain saw a few competitions where the score could have been given. Most notably, the beam set she performed against Alabama, which had also received a 9.975 as the judges average.
“Seeing her go up before and just doing one of the best beam routines of her life,’ Chio said. “She deserved that 10 in my eyes.”
Though some may argue that LSU could’ve had a higher perfect 10 count, it doesn’t discredit the impressive stat that the team does currently hold.
Now at a program total of 116 perfect scores, every gymnast that either added to that stat or came close to it this year is set to return for 2027, marking next January as the start to what will hopefully be another historic season.
