(CNN) — Gymnast Simone Biles, a world title defender, became the first woman to perform the double-fatal Yurchenko movement in competition at the GK US Classic in Indianapolis.
The deadly double Yurchenko—a high-difficulty technique historically performed only by men—consists of a flip over the trampoline, followed by a leap of hands backwards on the jump table, and ending with a double flip in the air until landing.
Biles, 24, made the move and then added two extra jumps for a slightly imperfect landing.”I was just thinking, ‘Do it like a workout. Don’t try to exaggerate anything,'” Biles said, “because I have a tendency, as soon as I raise my hand, to exaggerate things, and I did it a little bit, but at least I stood up. It’s a new leap and I’m proud of how it was resolved today.
Simone Biles, ‘the GOAT’, defends her title
Biles competed with a leotard decorated with a goat of rhinestones, a possible indication of his claim as the GOAT (which in English means ‘the greatest of all time’)
Overall, the four-time Olympic gold medalist successfully defended her GK US Classic all-around title with a score of 58,400.
It was his first competition in more than a year and a half. Biles scored the highest score on both the balance beam and the floor exercise.
Jordan Chiles, 20, originally from Spring, Texas, finished second in the all-around with 57,100 points, and Kayla DiCello, 17, originally from Boyds, Maryland, was third with 56,100.
After the postponement due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics will begin at the end of July, as long as there is no new postponement or cancellation. The U.S. Olympic team’s events will be held June 24-27 in St. Louis.
