Artistic gymnast Simone Biles, 24, is a powerhouse of talent, strength, and skill, and she is being unfairly undervalued.
Artistic gymnast Simone Biles, 24, became the only woman to perform the Yurchenko double pike, which has not even been attempted in competition by the gymnast it is named after. Former Russian gymnast Natalia Yurchenko pioneered the roundoff-back-handspring approach to the vault, which is why the move has been named after her. However, it doesn't describe the entire act that Biles can perform.
Biles, an Olympic gold medalist and one of the most decorated gymnasts in history, is known for performing difficult moves. The current one that she performed at the U.S. Classic gymnastics meet in Indianapolis is so dangerous that no woman has performed it in competition before. In her first competition in 18 months, she wowed the world with her strength and skill. To be able to perform the move, the gymnast has to launch herself into a roundoff back handspring onto the vaulting table. She then has to propel herself so high that it gives her time to flip twice in a pike position (body folded, legs straight) before landing on her feet, as per The New York Times.
.@Simone_Biles successfully completed a Yurchenko double pike in vault at last night's #USClassic.
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) May 23, 2021
She is the first woman in HISTORY to perform the move in competition. @OnHerTurf pic.twitter.com/j07ZweTA0f
"I was just thinking, 'Do it like training. Don't try to like overdo anything,'" she said afterward, according to CNN. "Because I have a tendency as soon as I raise my hand to kind of overpower things, and I did a little bit, but at least I was on my feet. It's a new vault and I'm proud of how today went," she added.
Even though she was brilliant, the judges gave it a provisional scoring value of 6.6, similar to what her other vaults have received. "I feel like now we just have to get what we get because there’s no point in putting up a fight because they’re not going to reward it,” she said of the judges. "So we just have to take it and be quiet," she added.
However, there are many who are speaking up for her. In an op-ed, USA Today said that Biles' skills were undervalued by "at least 0.2 points if you’re going by precedent, as much as 0.4 if you use the eye test."
The International Gymnastics Federation has previously undervalued her skills as well. When she performed the double-twisting, double somersault dismount on the balance beam, she was again scored less than what she deserved.
Experts have claimed that she is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete, and instead of celebrating her, the federation is punishing her. "I definitely think (the vault) is undervalued,” said Tom Forster, national team coordinator. “It doesn’t seem to be consistent with what they’ve done with (the progression of) other vault values, and I don’t know why they do that," he added.
Even though Biles is far ahead in the level of skill and talent, she is being held back because of the scoring system, through which the judges are trying to maintain parity where there is none. "That’s on them. That’s not on me,” Biles said, referring to the federation. "They had an open-ended Code of Points, and now they’re mad people are too far ahead and excelling.”
References:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/24/sports/olympics/simone-biles-yurchenko-double-pike.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/23/us/simone-biles-yurchenko-double-pike-trnd/index.html
Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by Laurence Griffiths
