Laurie Hernandez survived elimination on the first night of the two-night “Dancing with the Stars” finals, advancing with two other athletes to Tuesday’s finale.
If Hernandez, 16, wins the Mirror Ball Trophy on Tuesday, she will be the youngest champion in the show’s 23-season history. And the second gymnast, joining 2008 Olympic champion Shawn Johnson, who currently holds the youngest-ever honor.
Nastia Liukin and Aly Raisman appeared in previous seasons, and each finished fourth.
Hernandez could become the fifth Olympian to win the title, joining Apolo Ohno, Kristi Yamaguchi, Johnson and Meryl Davis.
The previous three weeks, Hernandez and partner Val Chmerkovskiy had received five straight perfect scores to advance to the four-couple finals. On Monday, they received one perfect score of 40 (10s from four judges) and a 38.
Hernandez, who had the best combined score Monday, will be joined Tuesday by former NFL wide receiver Calvin Johnson and IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe.
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Follow @nzaccardiOlympians on ‘Dancing with the Stars’
Season 1 — Evander Holyfield (1984, boxing)
Season 4 — Apolo Ohno (2002-2010, short track speed skating) — WINNER, Clyde Drexler (1992, basketball)
Season 5 — Floyd Mayweather Jr. (1996, boxing)
Season 6 — Kristi Yamaguchi (1992, figure skating) — WINNER, Monica Seles (1996-2000, tennis)
Season 7 — Maurice Greene (2000-2004, track and field), Misty May-Treanor (2000-2012, volleyball)
Season 8 — Shawn Johnson (2008, gymnastics) — WINNER
Season 9 — Louie Vito (2010, snowboarding), Natalie Coughlin (2004-2012, swimming)
Season 10 — Evan Lysacek (2006-2010, figure skating)
Season 12 — Sugar Ray Leonard (1976, boxing)
Season 13 — Hope Solo (2004-2012, soccer)
Season 14 — Martina Navratilova (2004, tennis)
Season 15 — Shawn Johnson, Apolo Ohno
Season 16 — Dorothy Hamill (1976, figure skating), Aly Raisman (2012, gymnastics)
Season 18 — Meryl Davis (2010-2014, figure skating) — WINNER, Charlie White (2010-2014, figure skating), Amy Purdy (2014, snowboarding)
Season 19 — Lolo Jones (2008, 2012, 2014, track and field/bobsled)
Season 20 — Nastia Liukin (2008, gymnastics)
Season 23 — Laurie Hernandez (2016, gymnastics), Ryan Lochte (2004-2016, swimming)