Simone Biles to have two more signature moves named after her
Simone Biles is only 22 years old, and she already has four Olympic gold medals, 14 world titles, and is expected to have her third and fourth signature moves named after her. At the world championships in Stuttgart, Germany, on Saturday, Biles performed two new skills. They weren't just new to her — they had never been performed before.
For the first move, the star gymnast dismounted the balance beam by doing a double twist into a double backflip — also known as a double-double. For the second, Biles ended her first tumbling pass with a triple-double — which is a triple twist into a double backflip.
Team USA announced both new skills are expected to be named after Biles — "The Biles" for the beam landing and "The Biles II" for the triple-double on the floor. She first nailed a triple-double in competition at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in August.
In gymnastics, any skill performed for the first time at a major international competition will be named after the gymnast who successfully performed it. While Team USA, the Olympic Channel and other outlets have already deemed "The Biles" and "The Biles II" a done deal, the International Gymnastics Federation will soon determine if Biles performed each skill cleanly enough to name them after her, according to Team USA.
Having two moves named after you in one night is an extraordinary accomplishment for any gymnast — but Biles is almost used to it. She already has two gymnastics moves named after her: the double layout with a half turn in the floor exercise, and the roundoff half on, front layout double twist vault.
What makes it even more impressive is that Biles is probably the only gymnast who can even perform these moves — she's that much better than everyone else.
According to Team USA, gymnasts are scored based on their execution and difficulty, which is rated on an alphabetical scale. Moves that receive an "A" are worth 0.1 point, those that receive a "B" are worth 0.2 point, and so on. "The Biles II" was rated as a "J" — meaning it's worth a full point. Previously, the most difficult moves received an "I," according to Team USA.
"The Biles" beam dismount received an "H," which stirred somewhat of a controversy as many expected it to be a "J" as well.
This is not the first time Biles has performed the new moves. She executed them both at the U.S. championships in August. However, moves are only named if they are performed at the international level. She has teammates who have executed a triple-double in practice, but not during competitions.
Biles' performance of new moves during the qualifying round at the world championships not only got her widespread praise, it also advanced her to the next round. The team final is on Tuesday, the all-around final is on Thursday and the individual apparatus finals will run from Friday through Sunday — giving Biles many more opportunities to perform her signature moves.
