Canadian pole vaulter Alysha Newman has addressed the viral moment of her enthusiastic dance, “twerking”, after bagging the Olympic bronze medal was “not due to her win.”

“A lot of people think I broke out in the dance because of the bronze medal, but again, I didn’t know I had bronze, Angelica [Moser] from Switzerland still had another attempt, she could have easily taken my spot,” she said in an interview with The New York Post.

Newman went on to explain that her “joyful celebration was simply par for the course,” as she has always danced and backflipped after setting new Canadian records in previous competitions.

“If you know me for these many years, I’ve always celebrated after a Canadian record. So I had just jumped with the 4.85 [metre] jump, I jumped a Canadian record, and in the past, at every single competition I’ve ever jumped, I’ve backflipped, I’ve danced, I’ve done any sort of thing that comes out naturally,” she added.

She was aware of the response that everyone called her celebration a “twerk.” But Newman added that she didn’t do a great “twerking compared to some of the women and men that can do it better than her”.

Newman shared that she was going to do it for Olympics and do a 16-day behind-the-scenes at the Olympic Village.

“It just blew up so I just kept with it, kept going with it through the years, and just doing what I felt comfortable with: Going live at my practices, showing workout routines, my abs a lot of people want ab workouts, the nutrition programs.”

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Newman acknowledged that people may judge others based on first impressions, but she chooses not to be bothered by negative commentary. She said she was raised to avoid such superficial judgments, and that she is thankful to have the mental strength and thick skin to let the “negative noise” stay in its “bubble.”

Reflecting on the viral moment, Newman shared that she had laughed about the situation with her mother, who assured her that the celebration was simply true to Newman’s personality, whether performed in front of a small crowd or a large audience. Newman emphasized that the key moment was bringing home a medal for Canada, not the specifics of how she chose to celebrate.