Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, dazzles every time she steps on the mat. On May 22, she outdid herself at the U.S. Classic, becoming the first woman to ever land a Yurchenko double pike during a competition. It was her first time competing in 18 months.
Her bedazzled uniform had a goat in rhinestones on the back, a visual play on the term “Greatest of All Time.”
Before Biles, only men had done the Yurchenko double pike. The complex move consists of the following: a run into a roundoff off of the springboard, two piked in-air backflips and a landing. “I was just thinking, ‘Do it like training. Don’t try to like overdo anything,'” she said after her daring feat. “…I have a tendency as soon as I raise my hand to kind of overpower things, and I did a little bit, but at least I was on my feet. It’s a new vault and I’m proud of how today went.”
The judges gave her a provisional scoring value of 6.6, even through the move is highly difficult. “I feel like now we just have to get what we get because there’s no point in putting up a fight because they’re not going to reward it,” she said of judges in a quote obtained by the New York Times. “So we just have to take it and be quiet.”
Regardless of judging, Biles has received major accolades in the days since her big moment. The above clip has over 4.5 million views on Twitter alone, and NBA champion LeBron James and former First Lady Michelle Obama are among those who have sang her praises.
Biles, 24, is currently preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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