May 24, 2021 Share
Time on her hands and a world-class gym at her disposal after the 2020 Olympics were postponed, Simone Biles started experimenting almost as a way to stave off the monotony of training.
Pretty soon a vault that she occasionally tinkered with for fun the Yurchenko double pike started to look like a vault she could pull off in competition.
So, what if it had only historically been done by men? So, what if the International Gymnastics Federation seemed intent on not giving the vault a difficulty value commensurate with its complexity?
The vault exists. She can do it. So, why not? She did not stick around for another year just to fool around. She stuck around to keep making history.
Simone Biles dials up the difficulty Because I can capitalgazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from capitalgazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Olympic champion
Simone Biles made history on Saturday when she participated in the U.S. Classic in Indianapolis and performed the Yurchenko Double Pike – a gymnastic vault that has never been landed by a woman in competition.
theGrio previously reported that the last time Biles, 24, competed was at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany where she won her fifth world all-around title. Following that feat and the postponement of the 2020 Olympics, Biles used her extra time to practice the move, according to
The judges scoring Biles on Saturday were not impressed with her Black Girl Magic. Per the
New York Times, they gave the decorated gymnast a provisional scoring value of 6.6, similar to what she received in the past for other vaults, the report states.
Opinion: What does it take to impress Simone Biles? Not her own accomplishments Nancy Armour, USA TODAY
INDIANAPOLIS She impressed LeBron James, and amazed Michelle Obama. Serena Williams’ husband called her a “national treasure.”
Simone Biles knows she does things mere mortals cannot. And while there are times she recognizes what she is doing is exceptional, it’s hard for her to comprehend just how extraordinary other people think she is, and how agog they are at what she does.
“I’m the one on the field, so you don’t really feel it. Because, to me, it’s what I do every day,” she told USA TODAY Sports last month. “But then people don’t see that every day. So then they’re really amazed.
Gymnastics Ethics Foundation registers 62 cases and expects number to rise Monday, 24 May 2021
More than half of the cases logged by the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation (GEF) related to safeguarding issues, it has been confirmed.
GEF President Micheline Calmy-Rey told members of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) Council about the work being carried out by the foundation during its first two full years of operation at a recent videoconference.
Since its establishment in January 2019, the GEF has registered 62 cases with 38 of those relating to safeguarding issues.
The GEF expects the number of cases to increase once it becomes better known .
The foundation was set up following the sexual abuse scandal which rocked the sport in the US and saw former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar jailed for 175 years for abusing dozens of gymnasts under the guise of medical treatment.