Simone Biles returns to gymnastics with signature move - ESPN

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Simone Biles is back.

Two years and one day after taking bronze on balance beam at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in August 2021, the four-time gold medalist returned to gymnastics in earnest at the Core Hydration Classic outside Chicago on Friday morning.

During the first session of podium training ahead of Saturday's meet, Biles performed portions of a new floor routine, landing her signature Biles I — a double layout with a half twist — as well as a double layout and a double twisting double back. She also looked solid on uneven bars and balance beam, eliciting a louder response from the small crowd gathered inside the NOW Arena with each element.

«She can do everything that she was doing before,» Biles' coach, Cecile Landi, said Friday. «We just adjusted the routines to use the new code of points and make it as mentally and physically comfortable as she can handle.»

The meet is the final qualifier for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, which will be held in San Jose on Aug. 24-27.

As impressive as she looked all around, Biles was the most striking on vault, where she completed three attempts at the Yurchenko double pike — a double-flipping skill that she is the only woman to land in competition. She improved with each attempt, landing awkwardly and sitting down on the first, over-rotating the second and stepping back on the third.

How do you overrotate a double pike? <a href=«https://twitter.com/Simone_Biles?ref_src=» https:>@Simone_Biles

you're on another level pic.twitter.com/7tYmXYjgOh

Biles planned to perform the Yurchenko double pike at the Tokyo Olympics, but withdrew from the team and all-around competition with what is known in the sport as the «twisties» — a dangerous mental block that