Simone Biles dominates World Champions


Captured byt ______.

Brianna Peck

In Germany last weekend (as of writing this story), Simone Biles added a new 1st place all-around win to her list, tying for the most world-title medals won by any male or female athlete.

At the meet, she competed two new skills, a triple-double on floor (three twists, two flips) and a double-double off the beam however the skill was given the same difficulty as it is on the floor.

“Am I in a league of my own? Yes. But that doesn’t mean you can’t credit me for what I’m doing,” Biles said in an interview with NBC.

In gymnastics, each skill is given a difficulty value and a corresponding point value. An A-value skill is given a 0.100 bonus, whereas an H-value skill is given a whole 1,000 bonus.

Since the double-double had never been done at any international meet it had to be assigned a difficulty level. The FIG deemed the skill an H-value, giving it the same difficulty on the floor as it is on a 4-inch surface, 4 feet off the ground.

“Reinforcing, there are many examples. . .where decisions have been made to protect the gymnasts and preserve the direction of the discipline,” said the Women’s Technical Committee (WTC) in a statement released last Friday about their decision for the skill value.

The WTC believes that skills are becoming too dangerous and don’t want gymnasts risking injuries trying to keep up with Simone.