Katelyn Ohashi: Viral gymnast star reveals how she dealt with criticism over her weight at start of career

American gymnast Katelyn Ohashi, whose flawless routines have propelled her into internet stardom, has revealed how she managed criticisms regarding her weight in the early days of her career.

The 21-year-old earned a perfect score for her routine at the Under Armour Collegiate Challenge in California on Saturday – and a video of the performance has since gone viral online, with a clip posted on Twitter garnering more than 39.6m views.

But Ohashi, who beat Olympian gymnast Simone Biles when she was just 15, nearly quit the sport altogether after fans made her feel “embarrassed” for gaining weight.

Speaking in a video for The Players’ Tribune, she said the comments left her feeling “broken” and how, along with several injuries, they stunted her ambitions to take part in the Olympics.

“I was told that it was embarrassing how big I’d become,” she said, adding that she was compared to “a bird that couldn’t fly”.

“I couldn’t accept myself. Gymnastics was my worth, it was my life — and I hated myself.”

Ohashi went on to explain how she was able to rediscover her love of the sport by finding a new coach and enrolling at UCLA, where she is now in her final year.

“Having a different goal and path to follow to finally find joy and love within the sport again.

"That’s all it took to feel like a person again.”

She added that gymnastics “can be a very brutal sport” but it shouldn’t have to be that way."

“I just hope that in 10, 20 years, there will be people leaving the sport feeling untouched by it.”