It’s not the skills, otherworldly as they are, that Simone Biles has displayed so regularly for so long that stand out so much, at least not to those who know her best.
The question with the gymnastics superstar – the only question really with a third trip to the Olympics on the horizon – is not about talent or ability, but about desire.
She answered that as best she could during four peerless routines at the U.S. Championships on Friday night, combining dizzying difficulty with a breathtaking performance to gain a huge lead and put herself on the cusp of a ninth national title.
Biles recorded an overall total of 60.450 – the highest in the world in the current Olympic quad – and in some ways looked as good as ever during a reign at the top of the sport that has essentially lasted 11 years.
But just as important as what Biles does is the way she does it. She has a kind of professional lightness about her at the moment, and that has put those around her at ease in a way that was hard to find in the run-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“I really feel like she’s happy to be here,” said Cecile Landi, Biles’ longtime coach. “I know she’s ready, but I think she really enjoys it and appreciates every encounter she gets to do.”
It sure seems like it.
At 27, married and with a seemingly bottomless stash of medals somewhere in her Houston-area home, Biles could have chosen to live out the rest of her life.
Instead, she threw herself into the sometimes unyielding crucible that being in the Olympic spotlight provides. She seems ready for what lies ahead after achieving the highest score in every event, even on the uneven bars, long her least favorite.
“She has to be confident and this time she feels confident,” Landi said. “Competing well builds (the confidence) for her.”
The seven-time Olympic medalist and six-time world champion started her evening with her Yurchenko Double Pike vaultShe clamped her hands on her knees and backflipped—twice—before landing with so much force that her momentum took her back a step.
Regardless, her score of 15.8 included a 9.4 for execution, a huge number for a jump so difficult that no woman other than Biles has ever attempted a major competition and only a select few men even attempt it. has tried.
Yet Biles has mastered it so much that it has become just part of the show, a show that – when at its best – remains unparalleled in the sport, and perhaps the Olympic movement.
Barring an injury, she is virtually guaranteed a room in the Olympic Village at the end of July. However, the question of which other four women will join her will likely not be resolved until the waning moments of the Olympic Trials in Minneapolis in late June.
Shilese Jones, the second-best all-around gymnast in the U.S. after Biles, withdrew from the championships Friday afternoon due to a shoulder injury. Jones plans to petition for Olympic trials, a petition that will almost certainly be granted.
When healthy, Jones is as close to a lock as there is. After her, though, intrigue abounds in perhaps the deepest field in at least a generation.
Blakely was just 16 when she unexpectedly qualified for the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics. That run ended with a torn elbow at the Olympic trials. The 19-year-old believes she is in a better place now and it showed. She ended her night with a score of 15.000 on vault, a score that left her “shocked and excited.”
It also increased Blakely’s total to 57,050, well above the goal of 56 she had pre-typed in the notes section of her phone.
Kayla DiCello, who left the University of Florida to return to Maryland and convinced elite coach Kelli Hill to retire in the process en route to the Olympics, bounced back from a shaky performance at the US Classic two weeks ago and stood at 56,850. himself in position to reach the podium at the end of Sunday’s final.
Sunisa Lee, the 2020 Olympic champion, took another step forward as she tried to deal with some kidney-related issues that were complicating her training (and in some ways, her life). Competing in all four events for the first time this season, Lee finished her performance with a score of 14.300 on bars – her best event – despite deliberately toning down her routine a bit to be sure that she would make it.
Jordan Chiles, a 2020 Olympian and three-time world championship medalist, continued her resurgence. Wearing a multi-colored leotard that is a nod to pop superstar Beyonce, Chiles’ evening included a rock-solid 14.5 on uneven bars. The only real hiccup occurred at the end of her floor routine, when she shortened her final tumbling pass and shot forward.
There is still plenty to decide in the coming month. Except when it comes to Biles, who, more than a decade after her elite career, is still in a league of her own.