What is the Yurchenko double pike? All about Simone Biles' vault - Information, points won

Simone Biles stunned the gymnastics community with her remarkable Yurchenko Double Pike in 2021 at the U.S. Classic. This skill is one of the most difficult to attempt in the vault. However, Biles became the first to attempt the skill in the competition and executed it exceptionally.

Biles planned to perform the vault at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She ultimately couldn't as she withdrew from the Games, citing twisties.

What is Yurchenko double pike?

The term 'Yurchenko' means the vault's entry. This trick is named after Natalia Yurchenko, who is a world champion for the Soviet Union. She discovered this vault in the 1980s, and since then, it has carried her name until Biles performed it in the World Championships.

In this trick, the gymnast has to execute a round-off onto the springboard and then follow it with a back handspring towards the vault. However, the change in the Biles' version that added the "double" indicates the two flips in the air, and then 'pike', which is a position where the gymnast's body is folded at their hips and their legs are kept straight while grabbing them.

The difficult part here is the double pike, which features two 1/2 flips as the gymnast, after the round off, bounces off from the table with her hands. This part needs immense power to be executed properly. If the flips are not completed properly, the gymnast could land on her head. This was beautifully executed by Simone Biles.

Is Yurchenko Double Pike now named after Simone Biles?

Yes, the Yurchenko Double Pike is now named after Simone Biles as 'Biles II', after she pulled it off at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The Olympian became the first woman to perform this difficult skill at a world competition.

How is the Yurchenko Double pike scored?

Before the skill was performed in the World Championships, the International Gymnastics Federation allotted it a difficulty score of 6.4, and then this score is added to the exceution score, which starts at 10 on every event, and deductions are made based on several factors like bent knees, or flexed feet, etc. The addition of both of these criteria is the gymnast's final mark.

Biles could score a maximum of 16.4 in the event. However, her coach was nearby, keeping the diffculty in mind, which resulted in half-point deduction. Her final score was 15.266.

What are the other signature skills of Simone Biles?

Five skills are named after the gymanstics goat, Biles, of which two are on the floor, one on the balance beam, and two on the vault.