Simone Biles expressed her thoughts as Clemson gymnast Brie Clark landed the first-ever eponymous skill in NCAA Gymnastics history. She performed the ‘Biles I’ on the floor and earned praise for her near-perfect execution from the gymnast herself.
‘Biles I’ is officially recognized as a “double layout with a half twist” and requires a gymnast to do the full laid-out flips while finishing the second with a 180-degree rotation. While Biles has been doing it since 2013, it’s extremely dangerous due to blind landing.
However, Clark made it look easy, becoming the first gymnast to successfully land the move in NCAA Gymnastics. She joined an elite company of Biles, Trinity Thomas (USA), Hillary Heron (PAN), and London Phillips (USA) to land the skill.
While Clark didn’t earn a perfect 10 due to a landing error, she did earn the appreciation of the seven-time Olympic champion.
“Congrats 🎉🎉🎉🎉🤭🤭🤭🤭,” she commented
Biles also highlighted Clark closing out Black History Month with a powerful rendition of her first eponymous skill and wrote:
“& closing out black history month! YES MA’AM 😮💨 iktr!!!!!!!,” she added
Biles first performed the double layout with a half twist as a 16-year-old at the 2013 World Championships, winning two gold medals in the team and all-around competitions. It was the first skill named after the gymnast, and she now has five named after her.
While the ‘Biles I’ was Simone Biles’ first-ever eponymous skill, her most incredible move was the now-retired Yurchenko Double Pike on the vault. It’s widely considered one of the hardest skills in gymnastics history and had the highest difficulty score of 6.44.
Biles performed the move for the first time at the 2023 World Championships, and although she didn’t land it perfectly enough to win a gold, the 27-year-old was landing it with ease in 2024. She did it at the Paris Olympics as well, winning gold medals in team, all-around, and vault exercise competitions.
However, she announced following the games that she was retiring the skill.
“rest in peace yurchenko double pike,” she shared an Instagram update last September
Biles had also submitted a new skill in the uneven bars at the Olympic Games but didn’t perform it after she failed to make the individual finals. If the 27-year-old does get a move named after her on uneven bars as well, she’ll be the first gymnast in history to have a skill named after her on all four apparatuses.
