Simone Biles, who prides herself on consistently doing otherworldly, Simone Biles things, just added another spectacular feat to her resume—because of course she did.
On Saturday, while appearing in her first gymnastics meet since October 2019, CNN reports that the defending world champion gymnast completed a notoriously difficult move—the Yurchenko double pike—while competing at the GK US Classic in Indianapolis and became the first woman in history to do so in competition.
Look at this shit:
If you’re like me and have no idea what a Yurchenko double pike even is, CNN describes it as “a roundoff onto the springboard, followed by a back handspring onto the vaulting table, and ending with a piked double backflip into the air to landing.” Basically, what you just saw. Only the 2016 Olympic all-around gold medalist added a little stank on it with two extra hops at the end.
“I was just thinking, ‘Do it like training. Don’t try to overdo anything,’” the 24-year-old said afterward. “I have a tendency as soon as I raise my hand to kind of overpower things, and I did a little bit, but at least I was on my feet. It’s a new vault and I’m proud of how today went.”
On Twitter, fans of Biles made it a point to point out the difficulty of the move while giving her flowers for such a historic feat.
“You are witnessing history in the making,” tweeted user @JeromeT96600074. “You don’t have to understand or know anything about gymnastics, but without a doubt this is GREATNESS. When she’s done, Simone Biles will be the standard that all will be judged by. She’s BLESSED.”
“That was extremely difficult and she performed it perfectly,” added @rachelsstones. “Her landing was incredible.”
“Simone Biles worked hard to be the GOAT. She wasn’t just born that way,” tweeted @ferbalsalubre. “A part of her understands that as a Black person in a sport dominated by white people, she has to be ten times better just to have an equal playing field. #colorbiasexists”
In what should come as a surprise to no one, the four-time Olympic gold medalist defended her GK US Classic all-around title (with a score of 58.400). She also had the top score during floor exercise and on the balance beam.
The Tokyo Olympics can’t come soon enough.