The entire vault lasts around six seconds. It begins when Simone Biles races down the runway and ends moments later when she lands on the mat. And this is perhaps the most impressive six seconds of every competition Biles enters.
The Yurchenko double pike is the most difficult vault in women’s gymnastics, and in 2021, Biles became the first to attempt the skill in competition. Her execution has been excellent, and because of the vault’s immense difficulty, she can soar far above her peers with a massive score.
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Once Biles lands this vault at the world championships, the Yurchenko double pike will bear her name in the international rule book known as the Code of Points. This will be Biles’s fifth eponymous skill — a reminder of how her routines have challenged the perceived boundaries of what is possible in women’s gymnastics.
Here’s what to know about Biles’s difficult vault:
What exactly is a Yurchenko double pike?
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The term “Yurchenko” refers to the vault’s entry. Natalia Yurchenko, a world champion for the Soviet Union and now the owner of a gymnastics club in Chicago, debuted this type of vault in the 1980s, and it has carried her name since. A Yurchenko features a round-off onto the springboard and a back handspring onto the vault.
Before this key innovation in the sport, gymnasts dove onto the vault facing forward. At the time, the narrow width of the apparatus required precise hand placement and left little room for error. Think of “Yurchenko” as the type of vault a gymnast performs, not the entire skill.
Most Yurchenko vaults have
the same entry:
1.
A round-off onto the springboard
2.
A back handspring onto the vaulting table
3.
But where they change is in the flip that comes after your hands leave the vault
Vaulting
table
Springboard
Landing
mat
Runway
Hand
placement
mat
The round-off turns
a gymnast around so she can dive backward onto
the vault.
Some Yurchenko-style vaults require
a gymnast to twist during the back handspring as she reaches for the vault, but the majority of the variation comes during the flip.
Most Yurchenko vaults have the same entry:
1.
A round-off onto the springboard
2.
A back handspring onto the vaulting table
3.
But where they change is in the flip that comes after your hands leave the vault
Vaulting
table
Springboard
Landing
mat
Runway
Hand
placement
mat
The round-off turns
a gymnast around so she can dive backward onto
the vault.
Some Yurchenko-style vaults require a gymnast to twist during the back handspring as she reaches for the vault, but the majority of the variation comes during the flip.
Most Yurchenko vaults have the same entry:
1.
A round-off onto the springboard
2.
A back handspring onto the vaulting table
3.
But where they change is in the flip that comes after your hands leave the vault
Vaulting
table
Landing mat
Springboard
Runway
Hand
placement
mat
The round-off turns
a gymnast around so she can dive backward onto
the vault.
Some Yurchenko-style vaults require a gymnast to twist during the back handspring as she reaches for the vault, but the majority of the variation comes during the flip.
Most Yurchenko vaults have the same entry:
2.
A back handspring onto the vaulting table
1.
A round-off onto the springboard
3.
But where they change is in the flip that comes after your hands leave the vault
Vaulting
table
Runway
Hand placement mat
Springboard
Landing mat
Some Yurchenko-style vaults require a gymnast to twist during the back handspring as she reaches for the vault, but the majority of the variation comes during the flip.
The round-off turns a gymnast around so she can dive backward onto the vault.
Most Yurchenko vaults have the same entry:
1.
A round-off onto the springboard
2.
A back handspring onto the vaulting table
3.
But where they change is in the flip that comes after your hands leave the vault
Runway
Hand placement mat
Springboard
Landing mat
Some Yurchenko-style vaults require a gymnast to twist during the back handspring as she reaches for the vault, but the majority of the variation comes during the flip.
The round-off turns a gymnast around so she can dive backward onto the vault.
What comes next determines the difficulty of the vault. In Biles’s version, “double” refers to her two flips in the air, and then “pike” explains the positioning of her body. A pike position is when a gymnast folds her body at her hips and keeps her legs straight while grabbing them. The other positions in gymnastics are tucks (knees bent into a ball shape) and layouts (straight legs and straight body with no bending at the hips).
That’s why Biles’s vault is called a Yurchenko (round-off onto the springboard, then a back handspring onto the vault) double (two flips the air) pike (straight legs, folded body).
What makes it so difficult?
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The second flip. The difference in difficulty between a Yurchenko pike, which includes just one flip, and a Yurchenko double pike is enormous. And a double-flipping Yurchenko actually features 2½ flips, because a gymnast launches off the table with her hands. Completing those rotations requires immense power. Not fully finishing the second flip would be dangerous because a gymnast could land on her head.
Another vault with a double-flip exists in women’s gymnastics, but it’s rare and also risky. A Produnova is a front handspring onto the vault and then two front flips in the air.
Yurchenko double pike
Simone Biles became the first woman to compete a double-flipping Yurchenko in 2021, and this vault will be named for her once she successfully performs it at the world championships.
First flip
Second flip
Biles said she chose to flip in a piked position, rather than a tuck, because it is easier for her to grab her legs.
Artur galocha/THE WASHINGTON POST
Yurchenko double pike
Simone Biles became the first woman to compete a double-flipping Yurchenko in 2021, and this vault will be named for her once she successfully performs it at the world championships.
First flip
Second flip
Biles said she chose to flip in a piked position, rather than a tuck, because it is easier for her to grab her legs.
Artur galocha/THE WASHINGTON POST
Yurchenko double pike
Simone Biles became the first woman to compete a double-flipping Yurchenko in 2021, and this vault will be named for her once she successfully performs it at the world championships.
First flip
Second flip
Biles said she chose to flip in a piked position, rather than a tuck, because it is easier for her to grab her legs.
Artur galocha/THE WASHINGTON POST
Yurchenko double pike
Simone Biles became the first woman to compete a double-flipping Yurchenko in 2021, and this vault will be named for her once she successfully performs it at the world championships.
First flip
Second flip
Biles said she chose to flip in a piked position, rather than a tuck, because it is easier for her to grab her legs.
Artur galocha/THE WASHINGTON POST
Yurchenko double pike
Simone Biles became the first woman to compete a double-flipping Yurchenko in 2021, and this vault will be named for her once she successfully performs it at the world championships.
First flip
Second flip
Biles said she chose to flip in a piked position, rather than a tuck, because it is easier for her to grab her legs.
Artur galocha/THE WASHINGTON POST
Who else has performed a Yurchenko double pike?
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Men, who in general perform more difficult vaults than women, have landed Yurchenko double pikes in competition, and it’s one of the hardest options. (On the men’s side, the vault is named for Yang Wei of China.) American David Sender is among those who have done this vault, and Paul Juda, a member of this year’s U.S. world championships team, recently performed a Yurchenko double pike at the U.S. Classic.
It’s common for high-level gymnasts to experiment with difficult skills in practice, even if only for fun. Tiana Sumanasekera, a 16-year-old teammate of Biles, posted a video of her own Yurchenko double pike — but into a foam pit. What makes Biles’s feat so impressive is that she has mastered this vault to an extent that she and her coaches feel comfortable with her performing it at competitions, where a hard landing surface is the only option.
Why isn’t the vault already named for Biles?
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Biles has performed a Yurchenko double pike only at national-level competitions. For a skill to be named for an athlete, she must be the first to execute it successfully at a major international competition. Biles practiced this vault during on-site training in Tokyo before Olympic competition began, but she didn’t perform the skill in competition before she withdrew during the team final.
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Biles already has four skills that bear her name: a double layout with a half twist on floor (named the Biles in 2013); a Yurchenko-style vault but with a half twist onto the table, then a front layout with a double twist (2018); a triple-twisting double tuck on floor (2019) and a double-twisting double tuck off beam (2019).
Because another vault already is known as the Biles, the Yurchenko double pike will be considered the Biles II.
How is this different from Biles’s other vaults?
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All of the vaults Biles has performed during her senior elite career, which began in 2013, start with a round-off onto the springboard. She dives backward onto the table, then pushes off with her hands and does two flips during the Yurchenko double pike. When she performs an Amanar, Biles begins with the same entry, then does one flip with 2½ twists. Biles performed the Amanar, usually with superb execution, for years, but she hasn’t done the skill in competition since her attempt in Tokyo, in which she felt lost in the air.
Biles also has perfected the Cheng, which has a different entry with a half twist as she dives onto the vault. She then completes 1½ twists in the air. The version of this vault named for Biles features a double twist, but Biles hasn’t done that eponymous element in competition since 2018.
When will Biles perform the vault during the world championships?
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Biles probably will have four opportunities to compete on vault at the world championships: in the qualifying round (Oct. 1), in the team final (Oct. 4), in the all-around final (Oct. 6) and in the vault final (Oct. 7). She could perform the Yurchenko double pike each time, though it is never guaranteed given the riskiness of the vault.
This season, Biles has performed a Yurchenko double pike more often than in 2021. Leading up to the Tokyo Olympics, Biles had five opportunities to showcase the difficult vault, and she did so just once.
This year, Biles attempted this vault at the U.S. Classic and on one of two days of competition at nationals. She also performed the Yurchenko double pike at the world championships selection event. This indicates she views this vault as her primary option. She turned to the Cheng on the second day of nationals only after she “stung her ankle a little bit” on her landing of the Yurchenko double pike two days earlier, her coach Laurent Landi said.
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In all-around finals and team competitions, gymnasts perform just one vault. But to contend for vault medals, gymnasts must perform two different vaults. Biles plans to rely on the Yurchenko double pike and the Cheng. She is comfortable with the Yurchenko double pike, but if it isn’t going well, Biles said, she’ll perform only the Cheng. If that were to happen in the qualifying round or in the vault final, she would have only one vault and wouldn’t be able to win a medal on that apparatus. Biles mentioned she hasn’t been training her Amanar (a Yurchenko with 2½ twists), which could serve as a backup option for the Yurchenko double pike.
How much does this vault help Biles’s score?
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A lot. The international gymnastics federation awarded the Yurchenko double pike a 6.4 difficulty score, meaning a vault with perfect execution would earn a 16.4. No vault in the women’s Code of Points has a higher value.
The Produnova has a difficulty score of 6.0, and the Cheng has a 5.6. Many of the world’s top gymnasts, including three members of the U.S. team at the world championships, perform a double-twisting Yurchenko, which has a 5.0 difficulty score. With the Yurchenko double pike, Biles has a significant edge before the competition begins.
However, Biles incurs a half-point deduction because her coach opts to stand on the mat. Given the risk of this difficult vault, it seems clear Biles and her coaches value her safety — and perhaps peace of mind — more than five-tenths of a point. Even with the 0.5 loss, which is classified as a neutral deduction, Biles probably will have the highest vault score among the women at the world championships.
How has this vault gone for her?
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Biles frequently has showcased her Yurchenko double pike during pre-meet training sessions, but she has performed the vault in official competition just three times.
When she debuted the skill at the U.S. Classic in 2021, Biles had plenty of height and bounded backward with two steps on the landing. She didn’t attempt the vault again until this past summer at the U.S. Classic, and she landed well with a step to the side, despite a two-year break from competition. On the first day of nationals, Biles delivered her best Yurchenko double pike yet with a nearly stuck landing.
Biles’s execution in the air has been consistently strong, and she incurs few deductions before the landing. At the world championships selection event, she rolled backward out of the vault, as she sometimes does during training sessions. (That’s a far better mistake than landing short, which would increase the risk of injury.) The selection event was at the Katy, Tex., gym where national team camps are held, and the vault landing was a softer surface than it would be at an official competition.
How long has Biles practiced this?
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Biles has said she first attempted a double-flipping Yurchenko years ago, before the 2016 Olympics when she trained with Coach Aimee Boorman. But at the time, she was just having fun with the safety of a foam pit, rather than envisioning it as a future competitive vault.
As Biles prepared for the Tokyo Olympics, now with coaches Cecile and Laurent Landi, she practiced Yurchenko double pikes into the foam pit to work on her push off the apparatus. She hoped doing so would improve her other Yurchenko-style vault. In February 2020, Biles posted a video of her powerful Yurchenko double pike into the pit, generating buzz among fans who wondered whether this might be possible in women’s gymnastics. Eventually, Biles realized she could perform a Yurchenko double pike safely in a competition.
How can I sound knowledgeable about this?
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When you watch Biles, pay close attention to how she lands. If she takes one or two steps backward, that’s a deduction — but it’s also a sign she had plenty of power and everything on the jump went relatively smoothly. The smaller and fewer the steps, the better. If she lands with her chest down, that means she didn’t rotate enough in the air and the vault wasn’t her best.
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In gymnastics, lingo matters. It’s the quickest way for hardcore fans to distinguish themselves from the so-called “four-year fans” who pay attention only during the Olympics. Call this vault a Yurchenko double pike, and remember each of those words is important. You may see the abbreviation YDP on social media. And once Biles lands the vault at the world championships, it will also be known as the Biles II, though Yurchenko double pike will never be wrong.
So you have options — and now, at least some expertise. But don’t call it simply a “Yurchenko” — because there are young gymnasts all over the country, many of whom will never make it anywhere near the elite level, who are performing Yurchenkos, too. Just not the wildly difficult variation that Biles has mastered.
