Simone Biles announced she is retiring her well-known Yurchenko Double Pike, which helped her earn a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She said she is no longer performing this gymnastic move in the most memorable way.
Simone Biles‘ most famous move will now just be the wind beneath her wings.
The gymnast revealed that she is officially retiring her famous Yurchenko Double Pike, which is considered one of the hardest moves in gymnastics and also helped Simone win gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Simone shared the news on Instagram Sep. 2, writing, “rest in peace yurchenko double pike,” alongside a heart hands emoji and photos of her posing in all-white atop a vault table—which slightly resembles a coffin—surrounded by white flowers. She also posted the photo to her Instagram Stories, cementing the move’s status as dearly departed with three headstone emojis.
And fans were delighted by the 27-year-old’s ode to her famous move, with one commenting, “OMG you just threw a funeral/eulogized your vault. I am deceased.”
Another added, “She said ‘i hope yall saw that bc i will NOT be doing it again!!'”
And one user joked, “Girl you killed it. Literally.”
Gymnasts frequently execute Yurchenko-style vaults, so named in honor of former gymnast Natalia Yurchenko, with just one flip. The Yurchenko Double Pike, also known as the Biles II, is a technique that combines a roundoff onto the springboard with a back handspring onto the vault. Simone advanced it further by including a second flip. In May 2021, she created history by being the first female competitor to land the maneuver.
Leave a Reply