Here’s a Closer, Slower Look at Simone Biles’s Latest Yurchenko Double Pike

Simone Biles truly seems to defy physics at times. One example is back in 2019, when Biles became the first female gymnast to perform a huge triple-double in her floor routine. Another is Biles’s famous Yurchenko double pike, which she first debuted in 2021 and she brought out again this week during a podium training for the upcoming Olympics Games in Paris.

During the podium training in Paris, cameras captured Biles practicing her latest signature vault from different angles, showing every impressive detail. Her execution was so clean that people are calling it her best Yurchenko double pike yet — and it’s definitely worthy of checking out in slow-motion, courtesy of the video above.

The vault begins with a roundoff onto the springboard, then a back handspring onto the vault. From there, Biles does a double pike, or two backflips with straightened legs. She’s so well-trained on this skill that she lands steadily on both legs, with only a small step back. With the slow motion replays, we can see every precise push, twist, and turn, and yet it never gets easier to wrap our minds around exactly how she’s staying in the air for quite so long, while rotating and flipping quite so many times.

The original Yurchenko vault is named for former Soviet gymnast Natalia Yurchenko, but the double pike part is Biles’s signature. She’s the only woman who has landed the move in competition (although some have tried it in training), joining the ranks of just a few men who have pulled it off. Incredibly, when Biles first debuted this incredibly risky vault at the 2021 GK US Classic, she over-rotated it a bit — meaning, she actually had a little too much power on the landing. With her wow-worthy display of technical skill, gymnastics fans can’t wait for the possibility of seeing Biles perform the technique during the upcoming Olympic games.

Amanda Prahl is a freelance writer, playwright/lyricist, dramaturg, teacher, and copywriter/editor. Amanda has also contributed to Slate, Bustle, Mic, The Mary Sue, and others.