Sophie Schriever closed out a standout freshman season on the University of Iowa gymnastics team with a viral post‑routine celebration.
Schriever and the rest of the GymHawks gymnastics team recently competed at the NCAA gymnastics regional in Corvallis, Oregon, finishing third in Session II with a team score of 196.750. The Utah native posted a 9.9 on the uneven bars event to help Iowa post a program record 45.75 score on the bars.
After nailing her routine, Schriever hit a celebration commonly associated with the popular video game “Fortnite,” which has been seen by millions at the point. Here’s what to know.
Iowa gymnast’s celebration attracts millions of views online
As Schriever stuck her landing and her teammates cheered behind her, the 19‑year‑old performed another flip, but instead of landing on her feet, she dropped into a relaxed pose and pointed to the camera.
The moment was captured live by ESPN camera crews and later shared across ESPN’s digital and social media platforms. The video posted to ESPN’s official Instagram account on Sunday, April 6, has received more than 35 million views as of the morning of Monday, April 6, and nearly 900,000 likes. ESPN’s SportsCenter account also reposted it, and it has received more than 19 million views on that account.
Commenters were quick to connect the celebration to the video game “Fortnite,” which features a similar move as an in‑game “emote” players can perform.
“She hit the Fortnite pose ” ESPN captioned its TikTok post of Schriever’s celebration, which has nearly 4 million likes as of Monday morning.
The post of Schriever’s celebration quickly went viral Sunday, breaking through what was already a busy and news‑heavy day in the sports world. ESPN’s social media accounts were simultaneously covering the NCAA women’s basketball national championship and a near‑full slate of MLB and NBA games, but none drew as much online engagement as Schriever’s celebration.
How did other Iowa gymnasts score at NCAA regionals?
The University of Iowa gymnastics team finished third at regionals with a score of 196.750, trailing UCLA (197.450) and Minnesota (196.975). Other notable performances from the GymHawks included sophomore Aurélie Tran earning a 10.0 on bars, marking the first perfect score on bars in Iowa women’s gymnastics history.
Tran will compete in the national championships starting April 16 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Schriever finished the 2025–26 season with second‑team All‑Big Ten honors and was also named to the conference’s All‑Freshman team.
Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa gymnast’s Fortnite‑style celebration goes viral. Watch it here.
Reporting by Cooper Worth, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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