4 Revolutionary Gymnastics Techniques Inspired by Simone Biles: At present, Simone Biles is rewriting the gymnastics book. Four skills named after her—floor, beam, and vault—will leave a lasting legacy in the sport.
The International Gymnastics Federation only names skills after gymnasts who perform them at big international competitions like the Olympics. Biles says her four designated skills are a logical evolution of her gymnastic ability. Most were added when she or her trainers decided she could add a twist or flip to challenge herself.
4 Revolutionary Gymnastics Techniques Inspired by Simone Biles
1. Floor
Biles (double layout with half twist)
- For this move, Biles flips twice in the air, with her body in an elongated position. Before landing, she adds a half twist, which means she can’t see where she will land.
- Her former coach Aimee Boorman said Biles has a good “air sense” that makes the blind landing no problem.
2. Biles II (double backflip, triple twist)
- To complete this skill, Biles flips backwards twice in the air while simultaneously twisting three times. It requires a tremendous amount of power to propel her high enough into the air to complete all that tumbling in time.
- But knowing the power and lift she can achieve on floor, Biles’ coach convinced her to try adding another flip. “He said, ‘I think you can do another twist, let’s just play with it and in a few months, I think this might come easily,’” says Biles.
- He was right, and when she performs this skill, it’s a crowd-pleaser.
3. Balance beam
Biles (double twisting, double backflip dismount)
- Biles flips spectacularly on balancing beam, with a double-double dismount that even Olympic winners can’t believe.
- Biles flips and twists twice. At the 2019 World Championships, the judges demoted her talent because to safety concerns to deter other gymnasts from trying it. Biles quickly protested and dubbed the ruling “bullsh-t” on social media.
- As usual, she noted that “they had an open-ended code of points and now they’re mad that people are too far ahead and excelling.” Biles demonstrated the new feat at the June Olympic Trials and will likely do so again in Tokyo.
4. Vault
Biles (Yurchenko half-on with two twists)
- The Yurchenko is hard enough—it’s a connected series of skills that starts with a round off into a back hand spring onto vault.
- From there, Biles literally flies. She does a half turn and then twists twice before landing. This vault has such a high difficulty rating because of the power and precision it takes to complete the twists and land safely