TThe last time Simone Biles attempted to jump in a competitive arena at the Olympics, all hell broke loose. When Biles threw herself into her extremely difficult Amanar vault, she completely lost track of herself in the air and only managed one and a half turns instead of the planned two and a half. After withdrawing from the team final, Biles would spend the majority of her Olympic experience in the stands.
Three years later, Biles returned to the Olympic competition floor on Thursday morning as the women’s gymnastics teams made their way through podium training. This is the only chance gymnasts will have to train at the Bercy Arena before the gymnastics competitions begin on Saturday with the men’s qualifying events.
In her third rotation of the day, Biles fluttered across the vault before launching herself onto the springboard with a back handspring. The 27-year-old built on her upward momentum by bouncing off the top of the vault table and performing two back flips. She landed with her chest up, her feet completely still: “Perfect! We’ll take this one. It was really good,” a smiling Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, one of Biles’ coaches, said afterward.
Just days before the gymnastics competition begins, Biles has already produced one of the best gymnastics pieces ever at the Olympics. Her Yurchenko double peak jumpOfficially known as the Biles II since she debuted it internationally at last year’s World Championships, the Biles II is one of the most difficult skills in the sport. No other female gymnast in the world jumps with enough power, technique or push-off to even consider attempting the jump. It is also one of the most difficult jumps in the men’s Code of Points.
Difficult skills are often produced at the expense of form and technique, with gymnasts often having to force their most difficult skills, leading to issues such as crossed legs or low chests on their landing, which can result in significant deductions from the judges. Biles has not only shown that she can execute the vault consistently, she does so with near-flawless form, her legs pressed tightly together and completely straight at the knee.
The Biles II doesn’t require twisting, and so Biles chose to reintroduce the vault last year when she began her comeback after a hiatus from the sport, in part because she still didn’t feel confident in her twisting after the mental block she suffered in Tokyo. It’s a reflection of Biles’ greatness that her idea for finding her way back into the sport was to attempt one of the most difficult skills there is.
The vault is such a challenge that Biles is still mentally coming to terms with it. After debuting the vault at U.S. competitions in 2019, Biles attempted it alone last year with her other coach, Laurent Landi, standing next to her on stage. Gymnasts automatically receive a 0.5 neutral point deduction if their coach is on the competition floor during a routine.
After nailing the vault last summer, Biles fell in an attempt at the World Championships vault final and finished second behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade. Even her mistakes are somehow impressive; she fell because she actually had too much power for the skill. The vault has such a high starting value (6.4) that without the automatic half-point deduction, Biles would have won the vault final with a fall. This year, with many more months of training under her belt, she is attempting the skill without a coach nearby.
The goal of podium training is for gymnasts to become accustomed to the equipment on the court, which often feels significantly different on an elevated stage, and to the dynamics of the arena as they finalize their preparations. It was clear from Biles’ performance on Thursday that she was ready and relaxed on all four pieces as she made her way through all four apparatuses without a hitch.
While Biles focused on her task, she also laughed and chatted with her teammates Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera. These three former gymnasts all returned from Tokyo to form one of the most experienced teams the U.S. has ever had.
After a tough day of training, the U.S. team, led by Biles, marched nonstop through the weaving mixed zone, their coaches delegated to talk to the media. They’ve been here before, and in the qualifying round on Sunday morning, they’ll try to reassert their Olympic dominance.
after newsletter promotion
Difficult jumps were a common theme on Thursday, as the Bercy Arena witnessed the return of the Amanar vault. Also known as the Yurchenko two-and-a-half, the Amanar was one of the defining skills of women’s gymnastics a decade ago, a key element that separated the top contenders from the rest. In addition to the significant number of twists, the vault ends with a forward landing, meaning the gymnast cannot see the ground before landing.
But in recent years, it has faded from view. In Tokyo, few but Biles and Andrade, arguably the two best vaulters ever, attempted the Amanar, and Andrade hasn’t done it outside of the Olympics in nearly a decade. The International Gymnastics Federation controversially chose to lower the difficulty of the vault, leading many to conclude that such a difficult and dangerous jump was no longer worth attempting.
In Paris, the Amanar renaissance actually comes from Britain, with British gymnasts continuing to perform such difficult gymnastics routines on the biggest stages. During their early morning training on stage, British gymnasts Alice Kinsella and Ruby Evans attempted the huge vault and after some early difficulties, both landed the vault on their feet. “It’s pretty cool to bring the Amanar back,” Kinsella said with a laugh.
Neither gymnast was sure when they would attempt the vault in competition, but they were pleased with their progress. Kinsella actually prefers the Amanar vault over the more common Yurchenko double twist, an easier vault with only two twists, because she can unleash her full power when attempting the more difficult version: “I think we just have to feel the block [vault table] and it’s going to be okay,” Evans said. “We know what it feels like now, so hopefully we can do it.”