- Skills in gymnastics are named after the first person to perform them in a competition
- Yurchenko’s double pike will be known as the Biles II in the future
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Not content with simply rewriting the gymnastics record books, Simone Biles on Sunday became the first woman to perform the Yurchenko double pike at the world championships, adding it to her growing list of namesake skills.
The Biles II, as the jump will be known in the future, took place on Sunday in Antwerp, where the 26-year-old is about to add 25 World Championship medals to her record, 19 of which are gold.
It was in that Belgian city where Biles won her first world championship a decade ago, but somehow the native Texan continues to find new ways to make her mark on the sport at an age when many gymnasts are considering retirement. Four skills had already been named after her: two on the floor, one on the balance beam and one on the vault. (Skills in gymnastics are named after the first person to perform them at a major international competition)
“It’s great,” coach Laurent Landi said afterwards. “I hope people realize that this may be one of the last times you will see such a leap from a female gymnast in your life. So I think it’s time to appreciate it.’
Landi was actually part of the historic moment on Sunday, when Biles voluntarily took a half-point deduction so her coach could step onto the mat for safety reasons. In the end, of course, Biles didn’t need it and came home with an impressive score of 15.266.
The vault has no bailout, creating the risk of a gymnast landing on their head. The difficulty of the maneuver is that you have to jerk your body around twice while holding the pike
Biles now has five namesake skills, including two on floor and one on balance beam
Those in the Sports Palace showered Biles with applause as the four-time Olympic gold medalist gave Landi a high five and dutifully jogged back to her teammates.
“She made it,” Landi told reporters USA today. ‘She controlled her nerves, could handle the pressure. Last event, so there was fatigue and stuff.”
The vault is undeniably dangerous because there is no room for a rescue, creating the risk of a gymnast landing on his or her head.
The difficulty of the maneuver is that you have to jerk your body around twice while holding the pike position.
Simone Biles of Team United States performs her new jumping routine ‘Biles II’ on Vault
Thanks in large part to Biles, the U.S. women totaled 58.865 and led qualifying through two divisions on Sunday.
Biles recorded the best scores on floor exercise, vault and balance beam and the second-best score behind teammate Shilese Jones on uneven bars during the first part of qualifying.
The American team of Biles, Jones, Skye Blakely, Leanne Wong and Joscelyn Roberson combined for a total of 171.395, which appears to be the best by a significant margin at the end of qualifying. Italy came second with 162,230 in two of the ten subdivisions.
The US will be heavy favorites to win the team title on Wednesday. The all-around finals are on Friday, and the event finals are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.