How the Olympic favourite and superstar gymnast pulls off one of the most difficult – and dangerous – moves in her sport
Simone Biles’s iconic status is not afforded just because she is the gold medal favourite going into the Tokyo Olympics and the dominant force in women’s artistic gymnastics for a decade. Nor is it based on the fact she out-performs her peers and predecessors – male and female – in international medal counts. Rather, it is bestowed because the 24-year-old
American is redefining what is possible in gymnastics.
Take her performance of what is one of the most difficult – and dangerous – moves in gymnastics: the Yurchenko double pike on the vault.