Portland observer., August 07, 2024, Page 5, Image 5

oject.
August 7, 2024
Page 5
s ports
Never Say Never
Simone Biles
Doesn’t Rule Out
the 2028 Olympics
(AP) — Simone Biles is getting kind
of old for this. Just maybe not too old to
keep going.
Maybe. Minutes after the American
gymnastics star won the seventh Olympic
gold of her career on Saturday in a vault fi-
nal that left little doubt that even at 27 she
remains in a class by herself, she played
coy when asked if the event marked the
final time she would ever explode off the
springboard in competition.
While Biles allowed she was officially
retiring her eponymous Yurchenko double
pike vault because “I kind of nailed that
one” at the Paris Olympics, she didn’t rule
out a return to the Games when they move
to Los Angeles in 2028.
“Never say never,” Biles said. “Next
Olympics are at home. So you just never
know. I am getting really old.”
At times, it’s hard to tell.
Her sequined red leotard a blur in the air,
Biles averaged 15.300 on her two vaults to
Simone Biles, of the United States, celebrates after winning the gold medal at the
medal ceremony during the women’s artistic gymnastics individual vault finals
at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Paris,
France. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
claim a second gold in the event eight years
after she triumphed in Rio de Janeiro.
Three years ago in the run-up to Tokyo
she tinkered with the Yurchenko double
pike, the hardest vault ever done by a wom-
an, but she didn’t get a chance to throw it
in the Olympics. She opted instead for an
Amanar, which requires 2 1/2 twists. That
changed in the team final, when the “twist-
ies” she’d been experiencing forced her to
bail out of an Amanar and multiple event fi-
nals, forever altering the course of her career.
The experience left both Biles and co-
coach Laurent Landi a little “traumatized,”
as Biles put it. They both agreed there was
no need to revisit the Amanar while prepar-
ing for Paris.
Yet rather than opt for something easier,
they chose something even more difficult.
Fitting for an athlete who needs to be chal-
lenged to stay engaged.
The Yurchenko double pike requires
Biles to race down the runway before doing
a roundoff/back handspring onto the table
followed by two backward flips with her
arms clasped behind her knees.
Over the last year, she has mastered it. It
became the fifth element named after her in
the sport’s Code of Points when she did it at
the 2023 world championships.
On the surface, she makes it look easy.
Underneath, it actually makes her anxious.
Power isn’t the only thing the YDP re-
quires. Control is important, too. Go in too
hard and you might land on your back. Too
little, and you come up short and crunch
your ankles and just about everything else.
Landi pantomimed “calm down” before
Biles saluted the judges, then watched her
Continued on Page 6
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