Simone Biles proves she is the greatest of all times (GOAT) after becoming the first woman to land Yurchenko double pike during a competition. The world champion gymnast competed at the GK US Classic in Indianapolis on Saturday, May 22, 2021.
As explained by CNN, the Yurchenko double pike is “a high-difficulty skill historically only done by men” consisting of gymnasts doing “roundoff onto the springboard, followed by a back handspring onto the vaulting table, and ending with a piked double backflip into the air to landing.”
© GettyImages“I was just thinking, ‘Do it like training. Don’t try to like overdo anything,’” the 24-year-old athlete said. “Because I have a tendency as soon as I raise my hand to kind of overpower things, and I did a little bit, but at least I was on my feet. It’s a new vault and I’m proud of how today went.”
For the historic moment, the four-time Olympic gold medalist wore a white leotard with a rhinestone goat on the back. The Bovidae is a hint to the abbreviation for Greatest Of All Time. The term is used primarily in sports to describe a person who has performed better than anyone else.
During this competition, Biles defended her GK US Classic all-around title with a score of 58.400. Jordan Chiles finished second with 57.100 points, and Kayla DiCello took third with 56.100.
The elite gymnast will continue her training to secure her spot at the Tokyo Olympics, beginning in late July. Biles will participate in the US Olympic team trials from June 24 to 27 in St. Louis.
New Jersey native Puerto Rican gymnast Laurie Hernandez is also currently training several hours a day, multiple times a week, to once again earn herself a spot on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team. Hernandez chatted with HOLA! USA on how she is approaching this summer’s Olympic games.
© Hola“I wanted to be able to do it again but to actually be able to enjoy the process and not worry so much about ‘This needs to happen, I need this to happen,’” she told HOLA! USA, stating the reasons of why she is going to try to go to the Tokyo Olympics. “Of course now I still want to make the team, that is my end goal, but I also get to enjoy the workouts and I get to enjoy the in betweens. That wasn’t really something I was able to do before and then there was also the curiosity of if I was to do things completely different - different environment, different training schedule, different people, I wonder what the outcome will be. That’s kind of where we’re at now.”
