This past Sunday, Simone Biles became the first woman in history to successfully land the Yurchenko double pike vault as she dominated the competition and took home the GK U.S. Classic all-around gymnastics title. This is Biles’ first time competing in over a year and a half at the GK U.S. Classic, as last year’s event was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Yurchenko double pike vault consists of a round-off from the springboard into a back handspring. After springing off the pommel horse, the gymnast performs two pikes, flips where the gymnast has their hips bent and legs together and straight, until they land.
As she prepares for potentially her final gymnastics season, she is excited to get back to work. “It was really nerve-racking, but I’m just happy to be back out here,” Biles said in an interview with NBCSN. “I’m not really mad about today.”
Biles had a couple of minor errors but was otherwise perfect in her history-making performance. She would end up taking gold in the all-around portion as well as the balance beam and the floor routine portions.
Before Biles landed the Yurchenko Double Pike vault, no other woman in history had even attempted this maneuver. “I was just thinking, ‘Do it like training. Don’t try to like overdo anything,’” Biles said in an interview with the L.A. Times, “because 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.”
However, the complex move did not go without controversy. While she did not cleanly stick the landing, she landed the maneuver however. The judges disagreed. They awarded her a score of 6.6, seen as low for a maneuver this taboo. “They’re both too low and they even know it,” Biles commented in an interview with the New York Times.
She does not plan on stopping there. She intends to try other risky maneuvers and never-before-seen tricks. She is looking to make her last season count, and the Yurchenko double pike vault is only the beginning.
Her teammate, Jordan Chiles, would also go on to find success, taking second overall at the event.
Kris Johnson
Intern