Many athletes dream of making it to the Olympic Games, but not everyone has what it takes to handle the pressure. Thankfully, the stigma around mental health has notably reduced in recent decades, making it safer for basketball players, gymnasts and others to prioritize themselves. When she decided it would be best for her to withdraw from the team finals at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, Simone Biles admits she had fears about being banned from America for letting her country down. Instead, her bravery signaled to billions watching around the world that it’s okay not to be okay.
Now, heading into the 2024 Paris Games, the 27-year-old knows she has the support of her husband, Jonathan Owens, family, coach and fans, regardless of what happens on the floor. Biles has already made history in her field, becoming one of the most decorated gymnasts in history, but it doesn’t seem like retirement is on her radar anytime soon. Instead, the Ohio native could potentially have another skill named after her in the coming days. Elsewhere, other young female gymnasts are beginning to perfect Simone Biles’ past eponymous moves while securing some of their own to inspire future generations.
How Many Gymnastics Moves Are Named After Simone Biles?
For those who aren’t familiar, naming moves after gymnasts isn’t uncommon, but it’s still a huge honor for the athlete who first completes them above a certain difficulty level in an international competition. Biles was only 16 the first time she achieved this fear, nailing a double layout salto half out at the 2013 World Championships. In an interview with CBS This Morning, she revealed that the move became a priority for her to perfect after she sustained a calf injury working on another. Her coach told her that the half out ending would not only make it easier for her to land, but she could also have the floor exercise named after her as no one else had performed it internationally.
Between that accolade and her second eponymous skill, Biles made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio games, where she nabbed four golds and one bronze, breaking numerous records. From that high, she was able to perfect a Yurchenko half-on straight front salto double twist off – the first Biles vault move – at the 2019 World Championships. The year after, the public figure impressed at the event again, this time on the balance beam with a double-twisting double-tucked salto dismount. At the same time, the athlete nabbed her second floor exercise, the Biles II, also known as a triple-double with three twists and two tucks.
All of that came before her out-of-character “twisties” in Japan, but after some time off to recoup, Simone Biles seriously impressed at the 2023 World Championships. This is where she secured her second vault skill, a Yurchenko double pike, meaning she only has to perfect one on the uneven bars to be only active female gymnast with one on on all four apparatuses.
Ohio Native Might Secure Her Sixth Eponymous Move in Paris
According to BBC Sport, we might see the Olympian make history this week. Her team submitted an uneven bars skill to the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) committee last week, meaning that a clean performance in Paris will give Biles her sixth eponymous skill. The women’s final in this category is scheduled for 9:40 AM ET on Sunday, August 4th, and we’ll be eagerly waiting to see how she performs. Of course, the Team USA leader isn’t the only competitor we’ve got our eye on.
Hillary Heron’s Tribute to the GOAT
20-year-old Hillary Heron is also making waves in connection to Simone Biles, although they’re representing different countries. The Panamanian starlet has been working hard on perfecting her Biles I floor exercise, as she previously displayed at Worlds 2023 in Antwerp in the video above. Now that she’s had even more time to practice, Heron blew the crowd away by busting out the difficult double layout on July 28th at the Paris Olympics qualifiers. This makes her the only gymnast besides the gold medalist to perform the skill during the Olympic Games.
Biles came out on top of the all-around qualifiers, scoring 59.566 overall (14.6 for floor exercise, 14.733 for beam, 15.8 in vault and 14.433 in the uneven bars contest). Heron, on the other hand, didn’t qualify as she ranked 36th overall with a final score of 50.765 (13.033 in floor exercise, 12.166 on the beam, 13.8 in vault and 11.755 for uneven bars). The young gymnast didn’t seem discouraged when talking to Olympics.com about her score – in fact, she’s already eager for more competition.
Panamanian Athlete Is Already a Force on the Floor
“Definitely I want more Olympics. This is the start of my career. I’m just very, very motivated for what’s to come next,” Heron told the outlet. “I think it’s the floor routine of my life, just so much work that has gone into that floor that many people wouldn’t believe, hours and hour and hours and trusting myself. I couldn’t believe I had done it, and I had done it just as I imagined it when I was four years old.”
Further following in the footsteps of Simone Biles, the Panama-born newcomer had a skill named after her in the Code of Points after the 2024 Cairo World Cup. There, Heron executed a double salto backward tucked with one and a half twists – her first eponymous floor skill with many more sure to come!