LOS ANGELES • Four-gold Olympic gymnast Simone Biles became the first woman to land a Yurchenko double pike vault in competition at the US Classic in Indianapolis on Saturday, while winning the all-around title in her first meet since October 2019.
The American, the overwhelming favourite at the upcoming Tokyo Games, last competed at the Stuttgart World Championships - where she won five golds - but carried on where she left off.
Biles had an all-around score of 58.4 points and finished ahead of compatriot and training partner Jordan Chiles, despite falling off the uneven bars on her final event.
For the Yurchenko double pike, she sprinted down the runway, did a round-off onto the takeoff board, followed by a back handspring with a half-twist onto the vault before finishing it with a double somersault in a piked position.
She scored a 16.1, higher than either of her gold medal-winning vaults at the 2016 Rio Olympics, while none of her rivals here received more than 15 points.
It had never been done in women's competition, but Biles, 24, is constantly setting the bar in the sport. There are currently four elements in the Women's Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points named after her: one on vault, one on balance beam, and two on floor exercise. No other woman has performed "The Biles" on vault and "Biles II" on floor exercise.
"I was just thinking to do it like training, don't try to overdo anything because I have a tendency as soon as I raise my hand to overpower things," she told NBC Sports when asked about her new vault display.
However, Biles said she was not happy that the International Gymnastics Federation gave a preliminary 6.6 difficulty score for the element.
"We were hoping it would be a 6.8 (difficulty score)," said Biles the third most decorated gymnast in history with 30 world and Olympic medals after Belarus' Vitaly Scherbo (33 medals) and Russia's Larisa Latynina (32).
"But that's OK."
Biles, who sported a rhinestone goat on the back of her white leotard on Saturday, also posted the highest scores on balance beam, floor exercise and vault.
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Simone Biles has won 30 world and Olympic medals and is the third most decorated gymnast in history after Belarus' Vitaly Scherbo (33 medals) and Russia's Larisa Latynina (32).
The US Classic is the first of three major competitions before the July 23-Aug 8 Summer Games in Tokyo. Widely considered the best female gymnast of all time, she has won every meet she has entered since the 2013 US Championships.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
