Gymnastics – Biles phenomenon: at the US championships with the jump that blocked her in Tokyo

A signal for Paris, after the nightmare of Tokyo. Simone Biles is there, once again in front of everyone and on vault. On opening night of the US Championships, the gymnast star put on a show. And after the problems of “twisties”, the mental block from which she suffered at the last Games which makes her lose her orientation in space while performing the aerial exercises, what shines most of all is the vaulting exercise, a masterpiece of flying stunts.

The Yurchenko

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She managed one of the most difficult vaults in the world, the “Yurchenko double pike”, so complicated that even men rarely attempt it. Her only help is having her trainer, Laurent Landi, stand on the mat with her arms slightly stretched forward. Ready to intervene in case there were problems. No hesitation, no mistakes, so much so that the jury rewarded her with a 15.7 for spectacular vaulting, with almost perfect execution (9.8 out of 10) and a half point penalty for the presence of the coach. All easy, like in the golden age.

Biles leads the standings at the end of the day with 59.300, almost three points better than the second, Shilese Jones, still at 56.750. Tomorrow night Biles can win the eighth national championship.

“I will recover”

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Purple leotard, the whole family in the stands with the words “I will rise again” on the shirts, Biles seems to have put one of the most difficult periods of her career behind her. Three weeks ago she returned to competition, in Chicago, and now at the national championships in San Jose, Calif., she was less than perfect on beam (a hesitation) and floor exercise (a penalty). Otherwise, at 26, she looks the same as she did in 2013, when she captured her first national title as a child prodigy.

Now she is a married woman who is not quite ready to leave her sport. And the return that only a few months ago was unforeseeable now runs at the speed of light. Simone pledged not to say the words “Olympics” or “Paris” after her victory in the US Classic in Chicago, but having repeated the jump she failed to perform in Tokyo is perhaps the most awaited sign. Because, as her trainer explained, it was perhaps better than any performed at her home gym in Houston. “She is one of the rare gymnasts who is even better in competition – said Landi-. When she is in shape, she explodes at the races ”. Waiting to know if she really will be in Paris, Biles is ready to fly to Belgium for the Antwerp World Cup scheduled for the autumn.