CELEBRITIES
Simone Biles creates Olympics history with incredible first as Snoop Dogg and Tom Cruise cheer on Team USA icon
She was forced to withdraw from a number of events in Tokyo three years ago after developing ‘the twisties’. Something likened to the yips in golf or baseball.
Biles took a lengthy lay-off from the sport, but is in Paris and already seems back at her best.
On the vault, she executed the Yuchenko double pike – the first time a woman has ever done that particular move at the Olympics
It is the hardest difficulty move on that apparatus.
She took a slight step back, but managed a score of 15.800. That was comfortably the leading score.
Fans were mesmerised on social media, with one writing: “Simone Biles creating history ….hell rewriting history.”
Another added: “What a ridiculous athlete.”
A third simply wrote: “Legend.”
There was some strapping on Biles’ ankle, but that appears to just be precautionary as it does not seem to have impeded her performance.
“As soon as I took off, I felt it,” Biles was heard saying. “It’s right there on my calf. Right where I had that tear.”