2021 GK Classic: Simone Biles makes history with Yurchenko double pike, field of Olympic contenders narrows
Typically a test run for the summer season ahead, the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the 2021 GK Classic into an important verification meet for the large field of U.S. senior elites looking to earn one of five [potential] spots on the Olympic team.
The showstopper, of course, was Simone Biles successfully competing the Yurchenko double pike for the first time in competition – a feat that the gymnast, who is all but a lock for the Olympic team, made look easy – en route to her fifth GK Classic all-around title.
Biles made the hardest vault ever competed by a woman look so easy, in fact, that this writer initially considered glossing over it by simply talking about how Biles turned a “splat-fest” of a meet into a day that will go down in history, but then I took a step back and realized how that would diminish the impact of what the World Champions gymnast did this weekend.
Gymnastics fans have tried to accurately describe Biles with words like great, superwoman, inhuman, exceptional, but no matter how hard anyone tries, what Biles can do… what she’s accomplished and still has left to accomplish… is indescribable. Literally.
Cognitive capacity is defined as the total amount of information the brain is capable of retaining at any moment. This amount is limited and can’t be stretched, and cognitive load is the demand being placed on that capacity at any given point in time.
Every time Biles does something like the incredible feat she accomplished this weekend, she’s literally blowing our minds by overloading our brains and exceeding that limited cognitive capacity. We, as humans, can’t even process, can’t even truly fathom, the revolutionary this 4’8″ woman is for this sport and sports as a whole.
The sidebar to the showstopper is the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) provisionally valuing the Yurchenko double pike at a 6.6 D-score – a controversial decision seen as “low” by many in the sport.
Biles’ coach Laurent Landi called the decision “embarassing” while the U.S. women’s high-performance team coordinator Tom Forster took it a step further saying, “It doesn’t seem to be consistent with what they’ve done with other vault values, and I don’t know why they did that… It’s undervalued at a 6.6.”
And Biles? She’s still going to compete it – no matter the value – because she can, but that doesn’t mean she’s not going to call the FIG out when she thinks something is wrong. That’s not how Biles rolls.
“We were hoping that it would be a 6.8, but I feel like now we just have to get what we get,” Biles said after the meet on Saturday. “There’s no point in putting up a fight, because they’re not going to reward it. [6.8 is] the correct value, but that’s okay… I’m capable of it. I know it’s not the correct value that we want, but I can still do it, so why not just show off my ability and athleticism.”
Field of Olympic contenders narrows ahead of U.S. Championships
While no one peaked at the 2021 GK Classic – including Biles, who made “uncharacteristic” mistakes on bars and floor – Forster did gain some clarity on who is still in contention for Tokyo heading into U.S. Championships June 3-6.
“I think it did,” Forster reflected when asked if he viewed the field as narrowing after this weekend. “There were some surprises. It was interesting to see a little more falls than what we thought we would see, but we’ve missed so many competitions since 2019, really… That’s to be expected I guess. But the ones that were really ready rose to the top is what it looks like, so I think it seemed clear.”
Who rose to the top exactly? Well, for one, Biles’ World Champions teammate and 2021 Winter Cup all-around champion Jordan Chiles seems to be cruising to an Olympic team spot after scoring yet another 57+ (57.100 to be exact) in the all-around and finishing second.
Chiles looked solid across all four events on Saturday night, with all of her execution scores ranging from 8.050 (beam) to 9.550 (vault) and her “lowest” difficulty score being a 5.4 (her double-twisting Yurchenko on vault).
While Winter Cup put the world on notice, Chiles might end up being the athlete to benefit most from her strong performance and consistency at the GK Classic. In fact, we asked our Twitter followers if Chiles was on their Olympic team after this weekend, and 91.8% of the 171 respondents either said “Leaning toward yes!” or “No question.”
One of the “surprises” Forster alluded to might have been 17-year-old Kayla DiCello, who earned the bronze with a 56.100 all-around tally. The 2020 American Cup silver medalist also won bars with a 14.600 and finished third on floor with a 13.850.
As she does, Biles won both beam and floor, and MyKayla Skinner, who was the only gymnast to compete two vaults at the meet, competed the difficult Cheng and Amanar to win that event with a 14.700 combined score.
Biles’ 16.100 on vault (6.6/9.5) was the highest single-event score for any athlete at the competition.
News & notes from the senior sessions of the 2021 GK Classic
– 2008 Olympic silver medalist and 2005 World all-around champion Chellsie Memmel competed for the first time in almost a decade this weekend, opting to perform on vault (13.750) and beam (11.800). On vault, Memmel opted for a clean Yurchenko full, just to get her feet wet. On beam, she posted a solid 5.6 D-score but fell on her signature standing Arabian. After the meet, Memmel reflected on the competition saying, “I’m just different, in general, than I was [9 years ago], but this round of gymnastics is for me…. I’m not going to hold my joy back. I’m not going to do that.” Forster confirmed that Memmel meets the criteria for an injury petition and it will be approved, so she will be competing at championships. She’s “confident” she’ll add bars at the meet, but floor isn’t quite there yet.
– 2016 Olympic gold and silver medalist Laurie Hernandez was slated in an early start list to compete in the all-around, but she opted to focus on vault (13.250) and beam (12.200). Sporting a Black Panther-inspired leotard that she designed herself, Hernandez also opted for a Yurchenko full on vault and fell on her opening front pike on beam but, otherwise, put together a solid set on that apparatus. On the fall, Hernandez said she actually whacked her ankle on bars doing a skill “no one’s done before” in early April – one she alluded to back at Winter Cup. She’s been doing physical therapy and conditioning, but just started back in training the past week or week-and-a-half. She’s still in a bit of pain, so it’s obviously been difficult getting back up to speed.
– Two-time World gold medalist Grace McCallum placed fourth in the all-around (55.100) in her competitive return after recovering from breaking her hand at practice back in January. Forster said that, at the time, he was afraid she would miss the season completely, so he has been “really encouraged” by her progress. Her only major mistake came on bars, where she had some “whoopsies” as she described it post-meet, so she’ll be focusing on cleaning up that exercise heading into championships.
– Three-time World medalist Sunisa Lee competed her two signature events – bars and beam – suffering falls on both events. It is expected that she will try to compete in the all-around at championships.
– The only athlete to have secured an Olympic berth, Jade Carey opted to compete her two “weaker” events – bars and beam – in what could be construed as an effort to show that she is willing and able to deliver as a member of the main Olympic team, if chosen. (Read more about that situation here.)
– Carey’s Arizona Sunrays teammate Riley McCusker was slated to compete vault, bars, and floor, but had to scratch from the latter two events after landing awkwardly on her double-twisting Yurchenko vault (14.400). After the meet, Forster said McCusker was immediately taken for an MRI in order to determine the severity of the potential injury and if physical therapy would be needed.
– 2017 World all-around champion Morgan Hurd competed on beam (13.200) and floor (12.900) and scratched vault. After the meet, Hurd was transparent about her performance, saying she was “sloppy” but “I don’t want to be great now. I want to be great later.” For anyone wanting to really understand her new floor routine, read “The Dark Tide” by Alicia Jasinska. It is a dark retelling of the story, but she “loves” it.
You can relive the 2021 GK Classic – Senior Women’s Session by reading our live blog here. Click here for full results.
All of the senior women’s routines from the 2021 GK Classic can be watched on USA Gymnastics’ YouTube, including Session 1 and Session 2.
