How Simone Biles does Yurchenko double pike, the world's hardest vault
Editor’s note: Simone Biles has won Olympic gold in the team final, all-around final and vault final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast of all time, earning her the GOAT title – the Greatest Of All Time.
The most outstanding gymnast of her generation is returning to the Summer Games for a third time, hoping to add to her already impressive seven Olympic medals – four gold, one silver and two bronzes. After coming back from a bout of the "twisties" in Tokyo, she has not just looked like her old self over this past year − in many ways, it appears she's gotten even better. It would not be a surprise at the Paris Games if she matches her performance from last year's world championships, where she won four golds and a silver.
But what really makes Biles unique is her ability to change the sport by attempting feats that most men wouldn't even try. Five skills bear her name: two on the floor, two on the vault, and one on the balance beam.
The US Olympic Women's Gymnastics team
Biles will lead Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee and newcomer Hezly Rivera in the team competition at the games. Biles is heavily favored to win her second all-around Olympic gold medal, and is tasked with leading the Americans to another team victory at the Games.
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More: Team USA's final roster is set for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Here's a closer look
What is the Yurchenko double pike?
Vaults are classified in families based on their entry. A Yurchenko, named for Soviet gymnast Natalia Yurchenko, is any vault in which a gymnast does a roundoff onto the takeoff board followed by a back handspring onto the table.
What differentiates the various Yurchenkos is what follows. Biles is the only woman to do a double pike, a double somersault with her body in a piked position, in competition.
The Yurchenko double pike is so difficult because there is no bailout. If it's done wrong, or a gymnast is off in the air, he or she is likely to land on their neck or head.
How Simone Biles performs the triple-double on the floor
In a measure of the triple-double's difficulty, 15 years passed between the time the first male gymnast did the triple-twisting double somersault on the floor exercise and when Biles unveiled hers in 2019.
More: 2024 US Gymnastics: Schedule, TV and medal rounds as trials begin
How do gymnasts leap so high during floor routines?
It takes physical strength and skill for gymnasts to launch themselves in the floor exercise. It also helps to have a spring floor to reach those extreme heights – nearly 10 feet – and lessens impact injuries. More than 2,000 springs are strategically positioned under the floor, and the surface mat is carpet-bonded foam. Here's a look under the carpet:
Other women's Artistic gymnastics events
Biles is an all-arounder, meaning she will do all four events. While uneven bars are her “weakest” event, she’s still one of the best in the world in the event. She’s the reigning world champion on the balance beam.
More: How to watch the 2024 Paris Olympics: Stream the Games with these tips
Simone Biles' height: Small but mighty
Biles was one of the shortest athletes in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics out of the 613 athletes competing for the United States.
Standing at 4 feet, 8 inches, Biles is able to launch herself up to 12 feet into the air in her floor routines, according to NBC Sports.
The five gymnastic elements named after Simone Biles
◾ "The Biles" on the Floor: A double layout with a half twist, which means a double somersault in the stretched position, with a half-twist.
◾ "The Biles II" on the floor: A triple-twisting, double somersault
◾ "The Biles" on the beam: A double-twisting double somersault.
◾ "The Biles" on the vault: A roundoff onto the springboard, a back handspring with a half-turn onto the table followed by a double-twisting somersault in a stretched position.
◾ "The Biles II on the vault: It's the Yurchenko double pike, a roundoff onto the springboard followed by a back handspring onto the table followed by two somersaults in a piked position.
SOURCE: Encyclopædia Britannica, simonebiles.com; NBC Sports, Paste BN research; PHOTOS Getty Images; AFP and Matt Krohn-Paste BN Sports