Simone Biles continues to make history.
The most decorated gymnast of all time pulled off the Yurchenko double pike at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships over the weekend, becoming the first woman ever to perform the difficult skill at a world competition.
That also means the vault element will now be named after her. Skills in gymnastics are named after the first person who does them at a major international competition. Biles has earned five moves that bear her name in the international rule book: one on the balance beam, two on the floor exercise and two on vault.
The element now known as the Biles II consists of a backflip off the vault and two full rotations in a pike position before landing. Biles last performed the elusive move in 2021 during the U.S. Classic in Indianapolis.
The 26-year-old, who returned to competition this summer following a two-year break after the Tokyo Olympics, earned a 15.766 for the Yurchenko even though she voluntarily took a half-point deduction so coach Laurent Landi could stand on the mat as a precaution.
Biles led a dominant performance by the U.S. women at the world gymnastics championships, posting an all-around total of 58.865 to lead qualifying through two subdivisions.
The five-time all-around world champion and seven-time Olympic medalist registered the best scores on floor exercise, vault and balance beam and the second-best score behind teammate Shilese Jones on uneven bars through the first portion of qualifying.
The American team of Biles, Jones, Skye Blakely, Leanne Wong and Joscelyn Roberson combined for a total of 171.395, which figures to be the best by a considerable margin by the end of qualifying. Italy was second at 162.230 through two of the 10 subdivisions.
Biles, whose 25 world championship medals (19 of them gold) is already a record, will get a chance to add substantially to that total throughout the week.
The U.S. will be heavily favored to win the team title on Wednesday. The all-around finals are Friday, with event finals scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Jones, who won three medals at the 2022 world championships, will join Biles in the all-around finals after posting a total of 56.932 led by a sparkling set on uneven bars, where her 14.833 led all competitors.
