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Simone Biles Looks Ready to Dominate at the 2019 World Championships — Watch Her Train

01/10/2019 - 11:30 PM

The 2019 World Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, officially starts on Oct. 4, but first, the teams have to train. Today marked the first day of podium training for the US women's team consisting of 2017 World floor and vault silver medalist Jade Carey, 2018 Worlds team members Kara Eaker and Grace McCallum, 2019 Nationals silver medalist Sunisa Lee [1], 2016 Olympic alternate and University of Utah collegiate gymnast MyKayla Skinner, and five-time Olympic medalist (and GOAT) Simone Biles.

Simone already made history at the last World Championships when she became the first female gymnast to win four World all-around titles. She also holds the records, after a tie-breaker, for the most World medals of any woman in gymnastics. This time around, she needs to place on the podium four more times to become the most decorated World medal gymnast, out of men and women, in the sport (she'd surpass the record of 23 World medals earned by Vitaly Scherbo [2]).

Then, there are the record-breaking skills. As we've reported in the past [3], Simone is dominant because her routines bring a high level of difficulty and she executes them well. She already has two skills named after her, both called "The Biles" — one on floor and one on vault. And, she's en route to adding two more skills into the record books under her name. One of them, a triple-twisting double on floor, is something she's guaranteed to do during Worlds this year, she said in a press conference before today's training session.

"The triple double I'll do at every competition here, because that's what we've been doing in the gym. It's getting better, so I'll do that every time I do a full routine," Simone said, according to USA Gymnastics [4]. As for her double-twisting double on beam, she and her coach Laurent Landi are reportedly more selective about when Simone competes that move. But, that doesn't mean she won't go for it during competitions — she's already doing it in training, and she told us in a previous interview that getting those two new skills named after her is her main goal before the Tokyo Olympics [5] come around in 2020. (Note: it also looks like she submitted a third skill for evaluation on bars!)

Ahead, watch clips from Simone's first podium training session in Germany. She competes on Saturday, Oct. 5 with the rest of Team USA during the qualification round. That will be televised on NBC live platforms, according to the schedule on USA Gymnastics's World Championship landing page [6]. The team competition is set to take place on Tuesday, Oct. 8, the all-around competition will happen on Thursday, Oct. 10, and the event finals are the weekend of Oct. 12 and 13. Watch those on NBCSN. There's a lot to look forward to!

Watch Simone Do Her Double Double Dismount Off Beam

Simone's double double here is two back handsprings connected to two flips and two twists off of the beam. If successfully landed during the competition, it could be entered into the FIG Code of Points as a skill bearing her name and would be worth, according to a list of new moves considered for evaluation [7], an H-level skill, or eight tenths of a point. However, chair of the Women's National Technical Committee and internationally qualified judge Cheryl Hamilton told POPSUGAR in a previous interview [8] that it would be worth nine tenths as an I-level skill. (We'll know for sure after the World Championships.) Simone first debuted this move during the first night of the 2019 US Gymnastics Championships in August [9].

This Vault Is Called "The Biles," And It Never Gets Old

Simone did this vault for the first time at the USA Gymnastics 2018 World Team Selection Camp [10] and then debuted it at the 2018 World Gymnastics Championships [11]. It's a round-off on the springboard connected to a half turn onto the vault with two full twists.

Watch Simone Do Her Triple Double on Floor

In case you missed it, Simone did this triple double, worth one whole point, while warming up at the 2019 GK US Classic [12]. She then did it in competition for the first time at the US Gymnastics Championships [13]. If landed successfully at Worlds and officially added to the FIG Code of Points, it would be the Biles II.


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https://www.popsugar.co.uk/fitness/simone-biles-training-skills-world-championships-2019-46701823