As the 2024 Olympic Games prepare to begin tomorrow with the opening ceremony on the Seine in Paris, France, Simone Biles is giving fans a sneak peak at what is to come.
This is Biles’ third Olympic Games. And if you thought you’ve seen it all, think again.
On July 25, just three days before the gymnastics competition is set to begin, NBC shared a video of her Olympic vault during podium training. And it’s a video that will leave your jaw on the floor.
Take a look:
Not only does Biles manage to rotate around three times in a piked position, but she manages to stick the landing perfectly.
In fact, this vault was the fifth skill that is named after her, known as the “Biles II,” after she became the first woman to ever successfully land the Yurchenko double pike at the 2023 World Championships.
“The Yurchenko double pike, I don’t know if anybody even thinks how difficult it is,” journalist Celine Nony said in the Netflix documentary, “Simone Biles: Rising.”
“The height she gets is absolutely extraordinary,” fellow journalist Olly Hogben added. “The pike position, from a physics point of view, is very very difficult to rotate.”
When asked how it feels to throw the Biles II, the Olympian admitted it’s “just scary. And it’s every time you do it, you’re scared.”
It makes watching her perform the Biles II that much more sensational.
Biles joins the ranks of just four other gymnasts who have made it to the Olympics three different times, only continuing to solidify her spot as the greatest of all time in the world of gymnastics.
Historically, Biles isn’t the only returning Olympian on the USA gymnastics team. In fact, three of her teammates were also on the team for the Tokyo Olympics; Sunisa Lee, Jade Carey, and Jordan Chiles.
They’re joined by their fifth team member, newcomer Hezly Rivera, who is just 16 years old.
Women’s gymnastics qualifications are set to begin next July 28. They’ll return to competition on July 30, August 1, August 3 to 5.
In a statement from Chellsie Memmel, the technical lead for the U.S. women’s gymnastic team, although it is possible that Biles will compete in all four events in the women’s team final, she’s not required to.
After being looked at as the “gold-medal token” in Tokyo, Memmel said it was important for Biles to not be given that title again. “If that’s what she needs to continue to be at her best for the team and for herself, that’s what we’re going to do because there are still four other members on our team,” Memmel said, according to USA Today.
“Whether she takes it or not, it’s going to be completely up to her,” Memmel continued. “For her, knowing that that is a possibility, I think that helps.”
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