The 5 gymnastics elements named after Simone Biles (plus one bonus move, pending)

"It’s never been normal, and it never will be," a colleague said about one of Biles' more challenging elements

By Gabriella Ferrigine

Staff Writer

Published July 30, 2024 5:15AM (EDT)

Simone Biles from Team United States competes on the floor exercise during day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the Bercy Arena on July 28, 2024 in Paris, France. (Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages)
Simone Biles from Team United States competes on the floor exercise during day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the Bercy Arena on July 28, 2024 in Paris, France. (Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages)

It comes as no surprise that Simone Biles — the most decorated Olympic gymnast of all time — has a set of skills named in her honor. After all, she was the first to ever complete them.

In gymnastics, when an athlete hits a move that has never been previously done at an international competition, their name is assigned to the element. Biles, an uncontested phenom in the sport, has five moves across various routines — beam, floor and vault — that represent her historic contributions to the sport. 

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After taking time away from gymnastics following her dropping out at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the 27-year-old Olympian is back for the summer Games in Paris. And she's not merely on a mission to earn Team USA more medals — Biles is seeking to add a sixth skill to her arsenal of eponymous moves, entering it into canon and further solidifying her legacy. 

Here is a list of all the moves named after the legendary gymnast. 

01
The Biles I (floor)
Simone BilesSimone Biles of USA competes in the Vault during the Womens All-Round Final on Day Five of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Belgium 2013 held at the Antwerp Sports Palace on October 4, 2013 in Antwerpen, Belgium. (Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
The first move to be named after Biles, the Biles I — a double layout with a half twist in the second flip — is a common element of her repertoire that she first debuted at the 2013 World Championships when she was only 16 years old. 
 
While other gymnasts had accomplished a similar move with a full twist, Biles was the first to perform it with a half twist, as noted by the Washington Post. The half twist is part of what makes this move so tricky — it renders the gymnasts' landing "blind," meaning that they are unable to see their feet as they begin to land.
02
The Biles I (vault)
Simone BilesSimone Biles of United States during Vault, Individual Final for Women at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar, Artistic FIG Gymnastics World Championships on 1 of November, 2018. (Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Introduced by Biles in 2018 at the World Championships, this vault move begins with a roundoff on a springboard followed by a half-twist right before mounting the vault. The Biles I is finished off with a front somersault with a double twist. 
 
Unlike the floor skill of the same name, Biles does not often elect to complete the Biles I vault. The Washington Post reported that the gymnast tweeted earlier this year that she is no longer able to complete the move. Rather, she opts for a Cheng — named after Chinese gymnast Cheng Fei — a similar move that only incorporates a 1.5 twist. Biles' double twist set a high bar for the move, increasing the difficult rating to 6.0 compared to the Cheng's 5.6.
03
The Biles (balance beam)
Simone BilesSimone Biles of United States of America during women's qualification for the Artistic Gymnastics final at the Olympics at Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Tokyo, Japan on July 25, 2021. (Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
This move features two back handsprings that then propel a double-double dismount — a dismount from the balance beam that includes two flips and two twists. 
 
Biles performed this skill at the U.S Olympic trials in 2021 after first revealing it in 2019. USA Today reported that Biles no longer performs the Biles beam because of its low score value.
 
The women’s technical committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) determined that Biles’s double-double dismount should be awarded an H difficulty rating. The H-valuation decision generated significant controversy as many deemed the rating to be too low.

 

 

04
The Biles II (floor)
Simone BilesSimone Biles of USA performs her floor routine during the Women's Team Finals on Day 5 of FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships on October 08, 2019 in Stuttgart, Germany. (Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Biles' second eponymous floor event earned its title after she stuck a triple-double at the 2019 World Championships. It starts with a roundoff and a back handspring, before flipping twice while simultaneously completing a triple twist. 
 
Per WaPo, the Biles II is the most difficult floor move in women's gymnastics. Biles frequently performed it during her floor routines, all the way through the Tokyo Olympics until her hiatus from the sport. The Biles II has returned to the athlete's repertoire of elements in time for the Paris Olympics.
05
The Biles II (vault)
Simone BilesSimone Biles of Team United States performs her new jump routine 'Biles II' Yurchenko double pike on Vault during Women's Qualifications on Day Two of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at the Antwerp Sportpaleis on October 01, 2023 in Antwerp, Belgium. (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
Biles landed this move — a Yurchenko-style double pike — in 2023 at the World Championships. It features a roundoff onto a springboard followed by a back-handspring on the vault. From there, Biles performs two flips while in a pike position. The standard Yurchenko pike only includes one flip in the air, and is commonly performed by gymnasts. Biles elevated the move considerably by adding a second flip to the vault, becoming the first woman to do so. Biles first debuted the Biles II, which has a difficult rating of 6.4, in 2021 at the U.S. Classic.

 

 

 

 

The New York Times in 2021 stated that the Yurchenko double pike is "so perilous and challenging that no other woman has attempted it in competition, and it is unlikely that any woman in the world is even training to give it a try."

 

“The double pike, it’s never been normal, and it never will be,” said Joscelyn Roberson, an alternate for the U.S. Olympic team, per WaPo.

 

Despite competing with a calf injury, at the Olympics on Sunday, Biles nailed the Biles II on her first vault move, garnering an impressive score of 15.800.

06
A new move on uneven bars is pending
Simone BilesSimone Biles of Team United States practices on the uneven bars during a Gymnastics training session in the Bercy Arena ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 25, 2024 in Paris, France. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

In advance of the Paris Olympics, Biles submitted a new skill on the uneven bars to the FIG, per NBC. If her attempt is successful, the element will become the sixth to be named after her and the first for the uneven bars – which would make a move named after Biles for every apparatus.

 

A variation of the Weiler half, a move that is already part of Biles' routine, the new skill will include a clear hip circle forward with 1.5 turns to a handstand, per TODAY.

 

USA Gymnastics shared footage of Biles practicing the new move on X/Twitter last week.

 

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By Gabriella Ferrigine

Gabriella Ferrigine is a staff writer at Salon. Originally from the Jersey Shore, she moved to New York City in 2016 to attend Columbia University, where she received her B.A. in English and M.A. in American Studies. Formerly a staff writer at NowThis News, she has an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from NYU and was previously a news fellow at Salon.

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List Paris Olympics Simone Biles Sports Usa Gymnastics Yurchenko Doubel Pike