Simone Biles Just Landed a Yurchenko Double Pike Vault Twice in Amazing New Video
As Simone Biles, 24, prepares for the grand finale of her gymnastics career at the Tokyo Olympics, she’s testing her limits at every turn — or backflip. In a practice session for the U.S. Classic, Simone nailed a Yurchenko double pike not once but twice. If she lands the notoriously-difficult move in Saturday’s Classic, she will become the first-ever woman to land it in competition. (Casual.)
Named for Soviet gymnast Natalia Yurchenko, the Yurchenko vault includes a round-off onto the board, then a back handspring or back handspring with a full twist onto the table, and a flip off of the table. A Yurchenko double pike adds a second flip. It is especially dangerous because it requires a gymnast to pick up an incredible amount of speed while approaching the vault and clear the vault mid-back-handspring. From the vault, the gymnast does a double flip while keeping her legs straight.
Simone shows exactly how it’s done in the Twitter clips below.
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