Simone Biles submits new skill on uneven bars, could become sixth named for her

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Simone Biles submits new skill on uneven bars, could become sixth named for her

PARIS — Simone Biles is not only ready to compete in the Olympics; she’s ready to leave a lasting impression.

Biles submitted a new element on the uneven bars for consideration to the International Gymnastics Federation on Friday. Should she hit it in competition, it will become the sixth signature Biles move and give the most decorated gymnast in history a named move on all four apparatus.

Only one other gymnast — Russia’s Svetlana Khorkina — has had a move named for her on floor, balance beam, uneven bars and vault, but Khorkina competed before the new code of points came into existence. The current scoring system does not recognize her move on the floor.

Biles’ new element includes what’s called a Weiler-kip — essentially a rotation around the bar to a handstand — followed by a 540-degree (one-and-a-half) turn.

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Biles already will perform an incredibly difficult and dangerous vault no other women and only a few men in the world dare to try — a Yurchenko double pike (also known as the Biles II). At podium training Thursday, she stuck the landing with nary a flinch, the move so preposterously impressive the collection of assembled media could be heard reacting in the otherwise empty arena. Asked about the vault, Biles’ coach Cecile Landi smiled broadly.

“Perfect,’’ she said.

Simone Biles, cleared for takeoff.

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