Simone Biles just put her name on a Yurchenko double pike at the world gymnastics championships ― literally.
The Olympic great on Sunday became the first woman to ever perform the complex maneuver in international competition, so it’s now called the Biles II, NBC reported. (Watch the video below.)
Watch Biles sprint down the runway and nearly nail the vault, which consists in part of a back flip into the apparatus followed by two full rotations in a pike:
Biles immediately gave coach Laurent Landi a double high-five.
The four-time Olympic and 19-time world championship gold medalist scored a 15.266 on the move, which carried almost 1 point more in degree of difficulty over any vault performed in last year’s worlds. Biles was docked a voluntary half-point on her total for having Landi stand on the mat as a spotter for safety.
Biles also shined beyond the vault at the all-around prelims in Antwerp Belgium, earning top scores on balance beam and floor exercise to lead her qualifying session.
The Biles II became the fifth element named for her across the beam, vault and floor exercise. It is customary for skills in gymnastics to assume the name of the first competitor who performs them at major international meets.
Biles, the 2016 all-round champ in the Rio Olympics, is coming back from a difficult summer games in 2021 that saw her drop out of many events due to mental health woes that included a struggle with spatial awareness called the twisties. The assuredness she displayed in performing the dangerous Biles II is an encouraging sign with the Paris Olympics less than a year away.
The team final is Wednesday for the heavily favored U.S., and the all-around final is Friday. Event finals are Saturday and Sunday.
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