Laurie Hernandez is currently competing on Season 23 of Dancing with the Stars.

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Lauren, nicknamed "Laurie," is a 16-year-old American artistic gymnast who competed as a member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Laurie is partnered with pro Val Chmerkovskiy on Dancing with the Stars. She's certainly a frontrunner in the competition as she has amazing talent and continues to land towards the top of the judges' leaderboard every week. The couple has made it to the halfway point in the season.

Laurie, who is of Puerto Rican descent, is 5'0" and has a strong faith in God. Want to learn more about her?

Below is a list of 8 facts Reality TV World has compiled about Laurie Hernandez:

- Laurie was born on June 9, 2000 in New Brunswick, NJ, and has one older brother and one older sister.

- In 2014, she committed to the University of Florida to compete as a Florida Gator gymnast in the NCAA but ultimately decided to forgo her NCAA eligibility and become a pro athlete in August 2016.

- Laurie and Val are nicknamed "Team Valaur" on Dancing with the Stars, which is very fitting since valor means "great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle."

- She won gold in the team event and silver on the balance beam at this summer's Olympics.

- The DWTS contestant got to hang out with Beyonce and Kim Kardashian at the 2016 VMAs. She loves Kanye West more than Kanye loves Kanye!

- Laurie had to take six months off two years ago after a series of injuries, including a fractured wrist, dislocated knee and torn patella ligament.

- The bubbly teen began her gymnastics career at age 5 and has been home-schooled since the third grade.

- Laurie is proud to support Crest's Healthier Smiles Project, which has recently teamed up with Feeding America to donate half a million tubes of toothpaste to those in need. The sweetheart says kids with poor oral health are three times more likely to miss school.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.