Winning in Every Field: Kailin Chio
June 03, 2026
She Scored 13 Perfect 10s This LSU Gymnastics Season. She’s Also Studying to Be a Doctor
Video by Callie Boyd
2026 was a year of records for LSU gymnast Kailin Chio.
Chio is the first Tiger in LSU history to score a perfect 10.00 at the NCAA gymnastics national championship. She finished her sophomore season with 13 perfect scores—the most by any LSU gymnast in a single season and the second most 10s in a single season by any NCAA gymnast since 2019. She accomplished these records while studying organic chemistry as part of her kinesiology major.
“My hope and dream, and my focus, is to go to medical school for orthopedics,” Chio said.
Chio is a Nevada native who just finished her sophomore year at LSU. A high school injury inspired her to pursue medicine.
“I had a pars fracture in my back when I was 16 in 2022,” she said. “I was out for six months and was in a back brace. And I was working with my orthopedist. I never had surgery or anything like that, but I think that just really made me want to do things in the medical field and help people in that aspect.”
Healed and ready to compete in college, she’d later find herself heading east to Baton Rouge, Louisiana: “The family, the culture, everything. It was just such a family when I first stepped on campus, and I couldn't have it any other way.”
“Being a student athlete has taught me so much discipline,” Chio said. “You have early mornings to go to school, and then have to go to practice, and then come home and do your homework. That takes a lot of discipline, and you have to be organized.”
Her discipline is also obvious when she competes.
“I'm most proud of how far I've come with vault, and just all of my success has really shown up on the competition floor,” Chio said. “I have a lot of self-motivation within just wanting to be the best that I can be inside and outside of the gym.”
In the fall, she looks forward to learning inside the Rathbone Human Anatomy & Cadaver Lab.
“I'm just super excited to see what that's like and really translate it to the human body and get some hands-on experience.”
While she has a few more years until medical school, she’s already applying what she is learning in the classroom to gymnastics.
“If I had an injury of myself, or if I had some aches and pains, I would be able to go to my trainer and just say like, ‘Hey, I think...’ and then start using anatomy terms to the best of my ability,” Chio said. “I think translating that into my everyday life has really been helpful.”