Simone Biles Is Attempting A New, Never-Been-Done-Before Move At The Olympics

It’s no surprise that all eyes will be on Simone Biles as she mounts a comeback at the Paris Olympic Games. But this year, she’s adding a new skill to her repertoire.

Simone submitted a new skill on the uneven bars—a Weiler-kip, in which a gymnast circles the bar before hitting a handstand on the top of the bar—combined with a one-and-a-half pirouette or 540-degree turn for evaluation, per NBC.

If she nails this move in Paris, it would be her first eponymous element on uneven bars, giving her at least one signature element on each gymnastics apparatus: vault, balance beam, floor, and uneven bars. (An eponymous element refers to something named after the person. So, all of these skills would be tied to Simone).

This would make Simone the only current gymnast to have a skill named in all four events. Previously, Svetlana Khorkina of Russia had this distinction when competing in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 games.

Here are the five moves named after Simone:

1. The Biles on Floor

This move, per Popsugar, includes a double back layout with a half twist. She’s been doing it at least since 2013 and it was named after her during the World Championships of that year.

1. The Biles II on Floor

Why stop at just one iconic floor skill? Simone debuted this triple-double, which is two flips, and three twists in a tucked position, at the 2019 US Gymnastics Championships, per Popsugar.

1. The Biles on Beam

Simone brought this iconic beam dismount to the 2019 Championships, as well, which features a beam dismount that includes a double-twisting double back flip.

1. The Biles on Vault

This was Simone’s first namesake skill, debuted at the USA Gymnastics 2018 World Team Selection camp, per the outlet. It features a springboard connected to a half-turn on the vault with two full twists.

1. The Biles II on Vault
   

Biles was the first woman to perform the Yurchenko double pike vault in competition in 2021, and in 2023, during the World Championships, she competed with the skill, and it was officially named after her. This features a round-off onto the springboard, followed by a back handspring onto the vault, and two back flips with straight legs. It is typically only performed by men, per Popsugar, and is the most difficult vault skill in the women’s scoring card.

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