Simone Biles Submits New Uneven Bars Skill Before 2024 Olympic Gymnastics Competition
July 26, 2024
Ahead of her Olympic return at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, superstar Team USA gymnast Simone Biles submitted a new original skill for her uneven bar routine.
According to Reuters (h/t ESPN), the skill is a variation of one created by Wilhelm Weiler, and it will see Biles do a "clear hip circle forward with 1.5 turns to handstand."
If Biles successfully completes her new skill at the Olympics, it will solidify the sixth different element to have been named after her. Only former Soviet and Belarusian Olympic champion Nellie Kim has more with seven.
The International Gymnastics Federation has assigned Biles' new skill a difficulty of E on a scale of A to J, giving it a difficulty score of 0.5.
Biles, 27, is among the most accomplished gymnasts of all time, having won four gold medals, one silver and two bronzes at the Olympics, along with 23 golds, four silvers and three bronzes at the world championships.
At the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Biles was dominant, taking gold in the all-around, vault, floor exercise and team events.
She was a massive favorite to repeat as all-around champion entering the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, but she had to pull out of the all-around and multiple other events after experiencing "the twisties," which is a phenomenon gymnasts deal with at times that causes them to lose a feel for their bodies and how they are supposed to move while in the air.
Biles left Tokyo without any additional gold medals, but she did secure a silver in the team event and a bronze in the balance beam.
There was uncertainty regarding whether Biles would return for another shot at Olympic glory, but after winning all-around, team, balance beam and floor exercise gold at the 2023 world championships, it was clear she was back on top of her game.
Biles is once again the all-around favorite entering the 2024 Summer Olympics, and if she manages to win gold, she will become only the third woman in Olympic history to be a two-time all-around champion.
Her teammate will also have a chance to earn that distinction, though, as Suni Lee was the 2020 Olympic all-around champion in Biles' absence from the competition.
The gymnastics competition for the 2024 Summer Games will begin Sunday with the qualification rounds.
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