She did it! On Saturday (May 22), the world’s most decorated gymnast Simone Biles landed an impressive Yurchenko double pike at the GK U.S. Classic in Indianapolis. Biles became the first woman ever to complete the difficult move, but as usual, she made it look easy.
On Friday (May 21), video of Biles practicing the maneuver surfaced online. However, no one was positive whether she would attempt to try it during the competition on Saturday or wait until the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Biles dominated her first two events, tallying an event-best score of 14.850 on the beam and a score of 14.250 for her captivating floor routine.
Then, during her third event of the night, all eyes were on Biles as the 4-foot-8 wunderkind braced for the moment. She took a deep breath, sprinted down the runway into a round-off onto the springboard, followed by a back handspring onto the vaulting table into the air before flipping twice in the pike position.
Biles successfully landed the vault, but she hopped and stepped back as she hit the ground. The judges rewarded her unprecedented move with a score of 16.1, which was the highest total of the night on the vault.
“I was just thinking, ‘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, which I did a little bit, but at least I was still on my feet,” Biles told NBCSN after the tournament. “It’s a new vault. I’m proud of how today went, even though it was a little bit rough and uncharacteristic. But it was okay.”
The uneven bars was the last event of the evening for the 19-time world gold medalist. Although she didn’t dominate, her total score of 58.400 was enough for Biles to place first among the competition. Up next, the 24-year-old superstar will continue to prepare for the U.S. Championships and Olympic Trials in June.
Watch Simone Biles land the Yurchenko double pike and more below: