Simone Biles has stunned the world yet again with a record-breaking maneuver that is so notoriously dangerous that no female athlete has ever managed to execute it.
The 24-year-old Olympic champion was filmed practicing the Yurchenko double pike vault on Friday while training for yesterday's US Classic. Simone made the move, which she enacted with incredible speed, look absolutely effortless.
Watch as Simone Biles completely nails the Yurchenko double pike:The four-time Olympic gold medalist, who is training for the Tokyo Olympics this summer, is seen bolting down the runway before moving into a round-off onto the springboard, then a back handspring onto the vault, and concluding with two aerial flips in the pike position.
Needless to say, people were absolutely mesmerized by Simone's flawless attempt at the Yurchenko double pike, which she performed beautifully the following day at Saturday's US Classic.
Former Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin took to Twitter to share a clip of the vault, writing of Simone and her almost-superhuman abilities, "YOU. ARE. INSANE...."
Another impressed viewer commented: "Holy s*** Simon Biles. I want to watch this from every angle and in slow motion. She’s not a real human right?"
A third person wrote: "Non gymnasts won’t understand the enormity of this and that not ok with me. @Simone_Biles ur ankles are the backbone of this country. [sic]"
A final person said: "Do y’all understand how strong your ankles, knees, and balance has to be to even do this? Simone Biles really is a whole superhero out here."
In March, Simone told Texas Monthly that she had been considering bringing the move, named after Soviet gymnast Natalia Yurchenko, to the Olympics.
She said: "I feel like it might be a better bet to do it in the all-around final because you do get that one-touch warm-up, rather than vault finals where you don’t. So I feel like we just have to go in and weigh the options, see what’s smart, get a feel of the vault."
Simone performed the groundbreaking vault at yesterday's US Classic, which marked her first competition in more than 18 months.
At the competition, she was given an impressive score of 16.100 for the move - higher than both of her gold medal-winning vaults at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, per the Guardian.
