Just six seconds. He begins to run, pirouettes and spins with his back to the foal. Two somersaults while keeping his legs completely horizontal. And falls. And Simone Biles becomes the first woman to perform a Yurchenko Double Pike in an international competition. He tried in 2021 and rehearsed for the Tokyo Games, but withdrew due to mental health issues. The element, unusual even among men, will now bear her name: Biles II. Ten years ago, the 16-year-old girl with braces won her first world championship. Now Biles is a physical wonder, a talented gymnast. Nothing can stop it and no one can overshadow it. And on qualifying day at the Antwerp World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, she took first place provisionally with 58.865 points. With turquoise in their outfit, the United States sought balance. He was ambitious and achieved this by becoming the leader with 171,395 points, followed by Great Britain (166,130) and Italy (162,230).
The crowd gathered to watch the first part of the women’s qualification at the Antwerp Sportpaleis. Italy debuted with relaxed confidence on vault with two double-twist Yurkenchos from Alice D’Amato and Arianna Belardelli, while the Netherlands took over the uneven bars with a varied routine from Naomi Visser, who scored a valuable 14.166. The wait for Darya Yassinskaya from Kazakhstan was long: her music wasn’t ready for her floor exercise and she was spinning around on the mat. The empathetic audience cheered her on. At the same time, on the slopes, the Italians Manila Esposito and Visser disputed the lead of a close all-around competition, and the Panamanian Helon Hillary shone on the vault and on the floor, becoming, along with Biles, the first gymnast to perform an element called American: Biles I
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But the outcry came with the second division: the United States and Simone Biles emerged triumphant. The stadium was roaring, even as Biles was warming up. The uneven bars greeted the American. He showed precision without mistakes on his weakest device with a 14.4. But her partner Shilese Jones was unforgiving and took first place from her with 14.833. On the balance beam, Biles was unrivaled and she performed elegantly and with astonishing poise, which led to spontaneous applause from the audience. She was comfortably in first place with a score of 14.566, while Skye Blakely fell off the apparatus while doing a stunt while leaving the bar. The United States had ambitiously jumped into the arena it shared with Chinese Taipei gymnasts.
And on the floor, Biles gave Jones a high-five before her routine. Luck wasn’t necessary in one of his star events: He floated between acrobatics, reached a great height on his first diagonal and made it seem easy to take first place with 14,633 points. But the icing on the cake was still missing. The most awaited moment. Biles rehearsed the Yurchenko Double Pike and the crowd went crazy. He has managed and made history. The force of the jump threw her slightly backwards. But no one cared and he scored an incredible score of 15.266.
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The day ended with Great Britain, the Republic of Korea and South Africa. Only the first came to the Americans, but Simone Biles was still the leader in three of the four apparatus and the all-around. Biles is back. And not just to compete. Or win. Also to impress.
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