Simone Biles enjoyed a virtual sweep in qualifying at the gymnastics world championships on Monday, further burying the nightmare of her Tokyo Olympics.On Sunday, 26-year-old Biles made history by becoming the first female gymnast to execute a "Yurchenko double pike vault" now renamed "Biles II" during women's team qualifying.
Comparing the plight of Ukrainian athletes with those in another war-ravaged country Yemen, IOC president Thomas Bach explained to Olympic athlete groups Monday its policy on helping Russians compete with neutral status before the 2024 Paris Games. The International Olympic Committee invited a global selection of athlete representatives to a two-day meeting while sports bodies work to shape their neutrality rules and assess individual Russians who want to return to international events and qualify for Paris. Ukrainian judoka Georgii Zantaraia told Bach his country did not understand why neutral status is being offered to Russian athletes and suggested any who disapproved of the war could compete in the Olympic refugee team.
Simone Biles made a historic return to the world stage, by becoming the first woman to land a Yurchenko double pike – widely considered as the most difficult vault skill in gymnastics.
Simone Biles announced her return to the world stage in some style on Sunday as she sits in first place in the women’s all-around qualification at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and became the first woman to land the Yurchenko double pike vault at an international competition.