SPRING, Texas — Simone Biles is never quite sure how many world championships medals she has. Ask how many skills are named after her, and she has …
SPRING, Texas — Simone Biles is never quite sure how many world championships medals she has. Ask how many skills are named after her, and she has to think about it. So more titles and accolades were not what brought the four-time Olympic champion back to gymnastics after a layoff following the Rio Games. “I had already reached, and passed, all my expectations in the sport already. So going back to, in 2018, worlds, and in 2019, I was kind of like, ‘OK, I don’t really have anything to lose at this point. I’ve already stamped my status on the sport,’ » Biles said told USA TODAY Sports last month. “But I’m going to push myself to see how much further I can go in the sport.” Biles returns to competition Saturday for the first time since the 2019 world championships, where she became the most-decorated gymnast, male or female, with 25 medals. Though the Tokyo Olympics had to be pushed back, Biles’ desire to push herself has not changed. She continues to do the groundbreaking skills she debuted in 2019 – a triple-twisting, double somersault on floor exercise and a double-twisting, double somersault dismount off balance beam. She has also added a new vault, a Yurchenko double pike, that she could do for the first time at the U.S. Classic. “We’re really excited about it,” Biles said. “It’s really consistent.” Because no other woman has done the vault in competition, Biles doesn’t know how much it will be worth in the scoring system. If she competes it at the Classic or next month’s national championships or Olympic trials, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) will assign it a value before Tokyo.
