Simone Biles Has Outdone Herself in a History-Making Floor Pass
When most 22-year-olds hit the floor, they're probably just trying to avoid embarrassing themselves at the club on the weekend. Not top-ranking gymnast Simone Biles. The four-time gold medalist has been famous for dominating the floor exercise (and every other event) ever since her world-championship-streak rise that culminated in becoming the 2016 Olympic all-around champion, but Biles recently topped her greatest competitor (AKA herself) at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Kansas City. In her floor routine on Sunday night, the seemingly unbeatable star made history by nailing the incredibly difficult (and unprecedented) triple-double.
Biles' performance marks the first landing of a triple-double in a women's floor competition (even on the men's side, the skill is rare). This weekend alone, the gymnast also became the first woman to land a double-double beam dismount and tied for the record of most U.S. all-around titles at six, coming up on a record that has stood for nearly 70 years. While she came in a close second behind Jordan Chiles for average execution score, her unmatched difficulty surged her nearly five points ahead of her competition overall.
With the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo looming, the U.S. gymnastics team has a good chance of repeating its success from 2016, in which the "Final Five" won the team gold and many others all while becoming crowd-pleasing favorites for their hard work, prowess, and entertaining Internet presences. Biles knows she doesn't need to play humble while totally dominating her field, retweeting a quote from fellow Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin, "Simone Biles has enough gold medals. Someone give this girl a crown!"
"I feel like I compete for perfection. Whenever I don’t do that, it really irritates me," Biles told Olympic Channel following the first day of competition. If anyone can achieve perfection, it's for sure Simone Biles.