Simone Biles’ retirement plans might still be a bit up in the air, but one thing is definitely set in stone, she’s officially retired her signature move, the YDP vault. And that’s a pretty big deal. Biles has racked up 41 medals at the World Championships and Olympics, more than any gymnast, be it male or female ever has. But what makes her more interesting is: that she’s got five moves named after her in the Code of Points, which means long after she steps away, her impact on gymnastics will stick around. But why did she retire from YDP?
Biles herself has compared retiring it to holding a “full-on funeral” for the skill. After pulling it off at the 2021 Olympics, she decided it was time to leave it behind. With all the tough moments she’s shared, it was clear just how much of a mental and physical toll the YDP had on her. Now, Simone’s former coach is opening up about how confident they were in her ability to nail this insane move in the Paris Olympics, and just what it took to pull it off.
The Yurchenko double pike, also known as the Biles II, is a beast, scoring a 6.4 in difficulty, it’s one of the hardest and most ‘dangerous’ moves ever performed by a woman in gymnastics. It involves a round-off onto the springboard, a handspring onto the vault, and then two flips in a pike position before landing with no margin for error. Biles made it official in September when she posted an Instagram Story with a picture of herself in all white, sitting on a vault surrounded by white flowers, saying, “R.I.P Yurchenko double pike.” This came after the Paris Olympics, where she nailed the vault in both the all-around and vault competitions, winning gold in each.
The Biles II became one of her signature moves, but she didn’t perform it all the time because, well, it’s scary. Simone herself has said it’s just terrifying to do every single time. “It’s every time you do it, you’re scared. Every time I do it, I’m like, ‘OK, one more time.’” She’s done about 100 of them, but she says the first and last ones felt just as nerve-wracking. Despite all the fear, though, Simone nailed the Yurchenko double pike at the Paris Olympics while dealing with a calf injury, no less. But the moment before that was pretty intense for everyone watching.