Simone Biles makes history at world gymnastics championship after completing challenging vault
CBSN
Simone Biles made history during her return to international gymnastic competition as she completed one of the most challenging vaults in the sport on Sunday.
The four-time Olympic gold medalist became the first woman to land a Yurchenko double pike vault internationally at the World Artistic Gymnastic Championships in Belgium. Video shows the 26-year-old sprinting down the runway before making a round-off onto a springboard, then doing a back handspring onto the vaulting table and finishing off with two double flips. As she landed on her feet, the crowd responded with loud applause.
Considered the most challenging vault in women's gymnastics, it has an assigned difficulty score of 6.4 – that's more than any other type of vault, Reuters reported. It will also be renamed Biles II because it was completed in international competition, adding to a total of five skills in her name, according to Team USA. Biles previously did this vault in the U.S. in 2018, and only male gymnasts have previously done it in international competition.