PARIS — Simone Biles submitted an original skill on uneven bars ahead of the Paris Olympics, which would become the American’s sixth signature move and first on bars if she can successfully complete it.
The new skill is a clear hip circle forward with 1.5 turns to handstand, a variation of an element named for Canadian Wilhelm Weiler, which Biles has performed for much of her career, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said.
FIG’s technical committee awarded the new move a difficulty value of E on a scale from A to J, which is worth 0.5 in difficulty.
The four-time Olympic champion has five elements named after her — two vaults, two tumbling skills on floor exercise and a dismount on balance beam.
Only Nellie Kim, the retired Soviet and Belarusian five-time Olympic gold medalist, has more skills (seven) named after her.
Biles is the fourth woman aiming to have a new element named after her at the Games. Qualifying for women’s gymnastics begins on Sunday.
Rebeca Andrade of Brazil will be attempting to perform a risky new vault in a bid to defend her gold medal from the Tokyo Games.
Naomi Visser and Lieke Wevers of the Netherlands have submitted a triple-turn on floor exercise with the leg in the horizontal position as maneuvers they’ll attempt to complete in Paris.
–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media
