On Sunday, star gymnast Simone Biles accomplished a Yurchenko double pike, the most difficult vault in women’s gymnastics, becoming the first woman to successfully do the jump in a major international competition and ensuring her position in gymnastics history.
Because the 26-year-old already has two floor exercise talents and one each on balancing beam and vault named after her, the Yurchenko double pike, a vault with an extra flip that makes it so difficult and lethal, will now be known as the Biles II.
“People, I hope, realize that maybe that’s one of the last times you’re going to see a vault like that in your life from a women’s gymnast. I think it’s time to appreciate that,” Biles’s coach Laurent Landi stated, according to The Washington Post.
According to USA Today, the Yurchenko double pike treads a fine line between success and disaster. Because there is no safety net, if a gymnast goes even slightly off, they risk crashing on their neck or head.
According to ABC.net, the Yurchenko vault family is named after Soviet gymnast Natalia Yurchenko, who performed it for the first time in 1982 at a competition in Moscow.
Natalia Yurchenko trained with Russian and Soviet coach Vladislav Rastorotsky, and the two developed a unique vaulting horse mounting technique. There are seven steps in the vault: run, hurdle, take-off, pre-flight, block, post-flight, and landing.
According to USA Today, the strength required to pull one’s torso around twice in a piked position is tremendous. It’s why Biles is the only woman in competition to achieve it, and few men even attempt it.
Biles was so powerful that, despite how difficult the vault was, she had to take a step back to control her landing. The gymnastics officials penalised her a half-point for having her coach, Landi, stand on the mat, ready to assist if something went wrong, but she still finished with a 15.266, possibly one of the highest scores of the tournament.
Despite the fact that there are still 20 more teams and 8 qualifying sessions left, her victory cemented the United States women’s status at the top following their qualifying session. They have won the last six world team championships since 2011, and a seventh victory will break the Chinese men’s existing record.
During the 2013 global all-around championships, one of her talents was named after her, and Biles has spent the previous 10 years on an unstoppable winning streak, shattering medal records and stretching the frontiers of what is supposed to be possible.