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Simone Biles Makes History At U.S. Classic After Landing Yurchenko Double Pike

The 24-year-old gymnast won her first meet since 2019.

It’s been over a year since Simone Biles the gymnast and five-time Olympic medalist has competed. But she made history at the U.S. Classic ahead of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday (May 22) with a stunning performance.

The 24-year-old landed the Yurchenko double pike, a vault skill she has been working on since last year, The Washington Post reports. During a training session on Friday (May 21) she was seen practicing the move that has never been done by a female gymnast in a competition. 

Yet, on the day of her competition, Biles stunned judges and landed the double pike skill,  earning her a total score of 16.1, People reports. She officially became the first woman to ever complete the Yurchenko double pike in a competition. 

A Yurchenko double pike consisted of Biles sprinting down the runway, doing a roundoff on the takeoff board, followed by a back handspring with a half-twist onto the fault and finishing with a double somersault in a piked position. 

“I was just thinking, do it like training,” Biles said to NBC Sports after completing the vault. “Don’t try to like overdo anything because I have a tendency, as soon as I raise my hand to overpower things and I did a little bit, but I was still on my feet. It’s a new vault and I’m proud of how today went even though it was a little bit rough.” 

See her make history at the U.S. Classic below:

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