Simone Biles holds a funeral photoshoot after Olympic glory but there’s a catch
Simone Biles bid goodbye to her iconic Yurchenko double pike, or Biles-II as she won't be performing the vault anymore.
Simone Biles doing the Yurchenko double pike (Image via NBC Sports)
After the Olympic glory, Simone Biles had some news to share as she held a funeral photoshoot to update her fans. The American gymnast bid goodbye to her iconic Yurchenko Double Pike. The skill had helped her win titles at the 2023 World Championship and the Paris Olympics.
Only recently, Simone Biles helped her team finish with a gold at the Paris Olympics by the Yurchenko double pike. Later, she had hinted at being unsure of her reappearance, hinting that the next Olympics were on home grounds, so she was leaving it up to time. Then, on 3rd September, Biles took to Instagram to update the followers that she won’t be performing the skill anymore. She posted a picture of herself sitting on top of a vault surrounded by white flowers. Biles also dressed in white for the occasion.
Rest in peace yurchenko double pike.Simone Biles
Back in 2021, Simone Biles shocked the world by debuting the skill on top of modifying the original Yurchenko double pike with double back flips with straightened legs. The skill required the performer to launch into a round-off on the springboard and a back handspring onto the vault. The International Gymnastics Federation gave it a difficulty score of 6.4.
Since the skills’ debut by Simone Biles, it became her signature. In the 2023 US Championships, the gymnast again performed the skill and got an execution score of 9.8. Not just that, in the 2023 World Championships, Biles conquered the skill to her name.
How did Simone Biles get a vault named after her
The Yurchenko double pike was named after former gymnast Natalia Yurchenkot until 2021. The skill is one of the most difficult vault elements performed by a woman in a competition and also one of the most dangerous. Simone Biles claimed it to her name when she became the first woman to perform the vault at an international competition in 2023 in Antwerp, Belgium.
That was how the Yurchenko double pike was started to be called Biles II. Simone Biles first started to showcase the skill in 2021, when the world was awed by her performance. However, Biles became unstoppable when she performed the Biles II repeatedly and without a speck of misstep.
During the Netflix documentary Simone Biles Rising, the American gymnast addressed how it felt to perform the move. Biles admits that it was simply scary. She revealed that she had done approximately 100 of them, and each one felt the same.
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