Getty Image / Stacy Revere
Heading into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021 (yes, that’s how the IOC wants the games to be referred to), the hype around women’s artistic gymnast Simone Biles was approaching levels only seen recently by Michael Phelps for an Olympic athlete. And, the hype was for good reason.
Biles entered the Olympics with an incredible eight-year unbeaten streak that saw her win five World All-Around titles and the Olympic All-Around in Rio in 2016. It wasn’t just the winning either, rather the way she dominated, with winning margins unseen in the sport’s history.
But, it all came apart at the Tokyo Olympics. Biles allegedly suffered a case of the “twisties”, a phenomenon where tumblers lose their sense of equilibrium in the air, resulting in greatly increased chances of crashing and serious injury. She pulled out of the team final after the first event, didn’t compete in the All-Around final, and skipped the event finals in vault, uneven bars, and floor. She did capture a bronze medal on the balance beam, but an Olympics that was supposed to end with Biles having won a handful of gold medals ended with her winning none.
After Tokyo, she took two years off, and married Green Bay Packers defensive back Jonathan Owens a few months ago, before announcing her return to competition at 26 years old, an advanced age for the highest level of women’s gymnastics.
She made her return to the competition floor on Saturday, and, yeah, she’s still got it. Biles won the Core Classic, which featured nearly all the nation’s top gymnasts, by an absurd five points.
Simone Biles wins the All Around at the #CoreClassic and the crowd ERUPTS! 🥇 pic.twitter.com/rKKrVnDPUQ
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 6, 2023
Her score was the highest in the world since the Tokyo Olympics by a significant margin, and would’ve won last year’s World Championships by over two points. What may be most noteworthy is what she did on vault.
Prior to the disappointment in Tokyo, Simone Biles was working on a vault that only a half-dozen or so men have ever landed in competition. And, on Saturday, she executed it arguably better than any man ever has.
SIMONE BILES WITH THE BEST CELEBRATION!
📺: @CNBC and @Peacock pic.twitter.com/xumNDPrWpt
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 6, 2023
To use a baseball analogy, Simone Biles being able to do this vault in women’s gymnastics is like a pitcher in Major League Baseball having a 115mph fastball. Nobody else comes close.
Next up is the US Gymnastics Championships, August 24-27 in San Jose.