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Gymnastics icons stun world with response to online video craze

US gymnasts Katelyn Ohashi and Simone Biles have gone viral after absolutely nailing the handstand challenge. Pictures: Instagram/katelyn_ohashi/Twitter/Simone_Biles
US gymnasts Katelyn Ohashi and Simone Biles have gone viral after absolutely nailing the handstand challenge. Pictures: Instagram/katelyn_ohashi/Twitter/Simone_Biles

Talk about making the impossible look easy.

American gymnasts Simone Biles and Katelyn Ohashi are just as bored in self-isolation as the rest of the world, but their outrageous gymnastic prowess certainly hasn’t abandoned them.

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With practically all organised sport off the table for the foreseeable future due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, sporting stars like Roger Federer, Lionel Messi and Daniel Ricciardo have been challenging one another to perform various athletic feats around the house.

There has been juggling rolls of toilet paper and some wild behind the back passes, but nothing like what Biles and Ohashi have been able to pull off.

The two elite gymnasts, perhaps unsurprisingly, have excelled at the handstand challenge, in which the participant balances on their hands and removes their shirt.

Spiderman movie stars Tom Holland and Jake Gyllenhaal had an amusing back and forth as Holland, a trained gymnast, accomplished the challenge, but it was nothing compared to what came next.

Biles, a USA Olympic hero and Ohashi, already a viral superstar for her sensational floor routine during the 2019 NCAA season, took to the challenge like ducks to water.

Of course, both felt they had to step it up a notch as well - removing their tracksuit pants instead of the shirt.

Biles took a little bit of time to nail the impressive feat, while Ohashi had fewer struggles getting her tracksuit pants past her feet.

While organised training is also on the backburner due to the global pandemic, neither Biles or Ohashi look like they’ll be too rusty when competition (eventually) resumes.

Simone Biles still tossing up Olympics run

The Tokyo Olympics remain shrouded in uncertainty due to the pandemic, but even without the pandemic, Biles’ attendance wasn’t guaranteed.

The 23-year-old has been one of the spearheads of a long-running dispute with USA Gymnastics over their handling of imprisoned former coach Larry Nassar, who was found guilty of perpetuating a long-running sexual abuse scandal.

The fallout from the scandal has left Biles disillusioned with the sport’s governing body, and she had openly discussed retiring from the sport following the 2020 Games.

“I haven’t decided not to do it, but I haven’t really decided to do it,” she told the Wall Street Journal.