"I’m not ready" - When Simone Biles recalled the time Martha Karolyi wanted her to perform Amanar during a National Championship

Simone Biles once reflected on the time she was asked by Martha Karolyi to perform a difficult routine, Amanar at a National Championship. Biles started training under her longtime coach, Aimee Boorman, as an eight-year-old. She was later invited by Karolyi to train at the Karolyi Ranch in Texas when she was 13.

In her autobiography Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance, published in 2016, Biles reflected on a moment at the Visa National Championships when she was asked by Karolyi to attempt Amanar on vault, involving a two-and-a-half twist. Karolyi sent a message through Boorman for Biles to perform the skill.

However, Biles was not confident in executing the skill and instead chose to perform her planned vault, a handspring double-twisting Yurchenko after her coach agreed to support her decision.

"It’s one of the hardest vaults in the world," —and I had never performed it in competition. 'Aimee, I’m not ready!' I said, hyperventilating. 'I haven’t practiced the two-and-a-half enough. It’s not safe.' 'Simone, you’re the one who has to go out there and do the vault',” she told me calmly. 'So whatever you decide, I’ll support you.' In the end, I stuck with my planned back handspring double-twisting Yurchenko, a vault I knew I could pull off."

Biles executed an unsteady landing on the vault after losing her control mid-air and tied for seventh place.

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Simone Biles got a fifth Gymnastics element named after her at the 2023 World Championships

Simone Biles of Team United States at the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Getty Images)

After taking a long hiatus following her withdrawal from the Tokyo Games, Simone Biles returned to the competitive circuit in September 2022. Months after her comeback, she executed a Yurchenko double pike, a skill on vault involving two flips in a pike position at the 2023 World Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. The skill was named The Biles II (Vault).

Before the Biles II (Vault), the legendary gymnast had four skills named after her: The Biles I (floor exercise), a double layout with a half-twist in the second flip, was performed at the 2013 World Championships.

She executed The Biles (Vault) a half-twist on the vault table and a front double full somersault, during the 2018 World Championships, followed by The Biles II (Floor) at the 2019 World Championships. The Olympian performed The Biles (Beam) at the 2019 World Championship too.