NY Times · Jul 25, 2021
Biles launches to top vault spot even without widely anticipated move.
Credit...Doug Mills/The New York TimesEveryone in the sport has been talking about when Simone Biles will attempt her breathtaking Yurchenko double pike vault at the Olympics. Turns out, it wasn’t during qualifying. And even without it, she did well enough to slide into first place on the vault after her turn.
Instead, Biles did two vaults that are somewhat common for top gymnasts. The first was a Cheng, which is a half-twist onto the vault, into a front layout with one and a half twists. She took a huge step on the landing, right off the mat and rolled her eyes afterward.
Her second vault was an Amanar, which is a back handspring onto the vault into a back layout with two and a half twists.