Simone Biles Just Landed Another Historic Move—See Them All
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Anyone even the slightest bit of interest in gymnastics (or truly, sports at all) knows that Simone Biles is the GOAT.
And if you forgot, she just reminded everyone again by making history with her latest gymnastics feat over the weekend. She's done it again!
On October 1, 2023, Simone returned to the mat for the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastic Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. It was her first international competition after her two-year hiatus from the sport due to the "twisties," per NBC News.
Within seconds, Simone landed a vault that has never been successfully landed by a woman–ever.
The move earned the 26-year-old athlete a 6.4 difficulty score (which, for context, the highest score of last year's championships was a 5.6) and a 15.266 overall.
Here's everything to know about the gymnast's latest feat.
What is the Yurchenko double pike?
After Simone's success in Belgium, the move will now be called the Biles II, according to NBC New York. Yup. In gymnastics, moves are named after the athlete who successfully land them at an international competition. And Simone just earned another namesake.
The Biles II is a backflip off of a vault, and then two full rotations in a pike position, with a clean landing. It also includes a running start. The phrase "Yurchenko" refers to the move of a gymnast launching themselves onto the vault table—and was named after Natalia Vladimirovna Yurchenko in 1982, per Texas Monthly.
Check out Simone in action:
Simone's use of a spotter (or the man on the mat) for this move seems pretty intentional. The gymnast doesn't usually use a spotter for moves, per Texas Monthly, and the use of one for a vault move resulted in a half point neutral deduction, according to the Washington Post.
Still, even with the deduction, Simone was able to obtain the highest vault score thus far.
What was Simone Biles hardest move?
Based on the difficulty points, the Biles II (vault) is the hardest move Simone Biles has ever landed—no wonder she used a spotter! For context, the Code of Points in gymnastics assigns a "D" score (for difficulty) and an "E" score for execution.
Simone's use of an extra flip (or the two full rotations) in the move makes it more dangerous than any vault move attempted in a competition, per The Washington Post, which gave it a "D" score of 6.4. With her execution score, the gymnast earned 15.266 points overall, per the Texas Monthly.
What are the 5 moves named after Simone Biles?
Simone is such a decorated gymnast that she actually has 5 (!!) moves named after her. Here is a rundown:
Biles (or Biles On The Floor)—A double layout with a half twist.
Simone first landed this token move at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in 2013, according to Good Morning America. It is especially notable because it involves a "blind landing," or a flip without seeing where she will touch the ground.
2. Biles II (Floor)—A triple double, or two flips in tandem with three twists before hitting the ground.
The GOAT landed this iconic action in 2019 at the World Championships in Germany, per GMA. This type of landing was only ever seen in men's gymnastics until Simone achieved it, per Pop Sugar.
3. Biles On The Vault—A variation of the Yurchenko double pike: a half-on with two twists.
Simone landed her first vault feat in 2018 at the World Championships. Up until her newest move, this was considered the hardest land in women's gymnastics.
4. Biles On The Balance Beam—A double dismount on a beam.
This one will have you beaming. Simone landed a double dismount at the 2019 World Championships. Translation: she did a double backflip on a 4-inch wide platform. At the time, this was considered Simone's most impressive feat.
5. Biles II (Vault)—A Yurchenko double pike.
The Biles II was Simone's latest and greatest move yet. I'm sure there is many more around the (back) bend.
See you in Paris, queen!
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