Simone Biles in spectacular ‘once in lifetime’ return at gymnastics world championships
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The Yurchenko double pike is the most difficult jump in the women's scoring code.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ANTWERP – Two years after her emotional Tokyo Olympics exit, United States superstar Simone Biles made a spectacular and dramatic return to international gymnastics at the world championships in Belgium on Sunday in a “once in a lifetime” performance.
The 26-year-old successfully became the first female gymnast to execute a “Yurchenko double pike vault”, now renamed “Biles II” during women’s qualifying.
Her ambitious return earned her 15.266 points, far ahead of the competition. She then returned to the end of the runway and landed her go-to second vault, a Cheng, for a two-vault average of 14.949. She accumulated 58.865 points for the four apparatuses and took the lead in qualifying.
A 19-gold world and four-gold Olympic champion, Biles arrived in Japan for the Games in 2021 as the huge favourite thanks to her four titles won five years earlier in Rio de Janeiro.
However, she broke down in full view of a global audience, withdrawing from most of the events.
She then explained that she was fighting against “twisties”, a temporary mental block whereby gymnasts lose their sense of where they are in the air, with the risk of injury when they land.
She returned to action at the beginning of August
She won the US Classic, where she obtained the best scores on vault, floor and beam, followed by a record eighth US all-around title at the national championships.
“I think what success means to me is a little bit different than before because before everyone defined success for me, even if I had my own narrative that I wanted,” Biles told Olympics.com before the world championships.
“So, now, it’s just showing up, being in a good head place, having fun out there, and whatever happens, happens.”
On Sunday, she also competed on the uneven bars for 14.400 points, balance beam, where she scored 14.566, and then soared on the floor exercise for a reward of 14.633. That paved the way for her spectacular vault, which brought the crowd and teammates Shilese Jones, Leanne Wong, Skye Blakely and Joscelyn Roberson to their feet.
Biles and her US team (171.395) will now go for team gold on Wednesday in Antwerp. Britain (166.13) are second and Italy 162.23 (third).
“She made it. That is all I can say, she handled her nerves, handled the pressure. It was her last event, she endured fatigue and everything,” said her coach Laurent Landi of the dramatic vault performance.
“So it’s great. People I hope realise that once in a lifetime you are going to see a vault like that from a woman gymnast, so I think it is time to appreciate that now.”
Earlier, Kenta Chiba led the way as Japan dominated the men’s team all-around qualifiers.
With 258.228 points, they are four points ahead of the US and Britain. They also occupy the first three places in the individual standings. AFP
