This is the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships from 2010. Once you see the Russian team’s routine, it will come as no surprise that they took 1st place. I don’t think I ever realized that acrobatic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics were a specific thing, but after watching this physics-defying display, I started binge-watching videos on YouTube and had trouble stopping. (Damn you, YouTube!)

Rhythmic gymnastics includes the ribbon thing everyone makes jokes about, fun with hula-hoops, clubs, balls, bears*, and acro gymnastics wherein between two and five gymnasts (who likely fit into each other like nesting dolls) take turns flinging the littlest doll into the air as if she weighed the same as a grain of rice. In addition to being scarily in synch and impossibly strong, these are some of the most insanely flexible people I’ve ever seen. Honestly, I worry about the state of their hips when they get older. Just watching them made my hips ache . . .

*Just seeing if you were paying attention.

Anyway, it was a really fun way to spend an evening. Give the video below a try, and if you like it, have yourself a binge watch! (I don’t know why the video below looks like that, but once you start playing it, it works fine.)