5 things to know about Morgan Hurd, 16-year-old US gymnastics world champ

Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Meet the up-and-coming star of the USA women’s gymnastics team who helped keep their long-standing win streak at the World Championships alive in her first-ever appearance at the competition.

Newcomer Morgan Hurd, 16, stepped up to the mat for the women’s all-around competition when Ragan Smith, the reigning U.S. national champion, injured her ankle during warm-ups.

Hurd, who was adopted as a toddler from China, competed and took home her first-ever gold medal in the individual all-around final in Montreal, Canada, on Sunday.

Here are five fun facts about Hurd:

1. She loves Harry Potter

The young gymnast is a big Harry Potter fan and her recent gold medal performance captured the attention of the magical author herself, J.K. Rowling.

2. She shares her July 18 birthday with National Hamilton Day.

The talented gymnast shared her complete competition pump-up playlist with ESPNW, and it included a variety of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s songs from the hit Broadway musical. Earlier this year, she also shared a video of her and a friend lip-syncing one of the songs.

3. Hurd’s Twitter handle shows off her nickname, Morgi.

4. In 2014, Hurd live-blogged the very same competition that she won the all-around title for on Sunday evening.

5. Hurd was featured on the cover of International Gymnast magazine when she was just 15.

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