Biles gears up for Tokyo, Skinner makes her case

Simone Biles might’ve dominated the first day of the 2021 US Gymnastics Olympic Trials, but the biggest takeaway from night one was this: Biles hasn’t hit her peak yet. Not. Even. Close.

Biles earned a whopping 60.565 all-around total on Friday – an improvement over her night two total of 60.100 at U.S. Championships earlier this month – and currently sits in first on vault, beam, and floor, as well as an impressive third on bars.

“I feel like I’m going to remember staying in bounds [on floor], getting all my credit on beam, and just being out here with three of my [World Champions Centre gym] teammates,” Biles told NBC. “It’s been a blast.”

While the 24-year-old did finally stay in bounds on all her floor passes, hit an outstanding bars set, and revitalized The Biles (double-double dismount) on beam, she still has room for improvement – namely: the Yurchenko double pike.

Biles hasn’t competed the historic vault since the GK U.S. Classic in May when she first debuted it.

She was planning to compete it at U.S. Championships. Although she opted against it after crunching her ankles when she under-rotated the vault during podium training, Biles did tell media that she was planning to compete it at trials. Fast forward to this week, and Biles has been seen training and competing only Amanars and Chengs, which are exceptional but not, by any means, a challenge compared to the double pike or the original Biles (Yurchenko 1/2 with two twists) on vault.

That vault, if scored as it was at Classics, would add a half, if not a full, point to her all-around total if competed in Tokyo.

Almost assured of a place beside Biles on the U.S. women’s team – which will be announced shortly after the conclusion of competition on Sunday – are Sunisa Lee and Biles’ World Champion’s teammate Jordan Chiles, who currently sit in second (57.666) and third (57.132), respectively.

Lee once again hit her world-class uneven bars set to earn a 15.300 and currently sits in first on the event. She also hit her beam routine to earn a 14.733 and place second behind Biles after day one.

2016 Olympic Team alternate MyKayla Skinner had the meet of her life on day one in St. Louis, boasting a score of 56.598 and besting Grace McCallum’s 56.498 for fourth in the all-around and second on vault, where she performed an outstanding stuck Amanar and Cheng.

Realistically, the field of contenders for the fourth and final team spot have narrowed significantly after U.S. Championships and night one of trials, with Skinner, McCallum, and Kayla DiCello (56.298) distinguishing themselves as the most suitable candidates for the position.

Leanne Wong (53.799), who was believed by many to be a favorite coming in to trials, suffered a devastating fall on beam on night one, hurting her chances of making the main team significantly, but with an exceptional meet on Sunday, Wong, Shilese Jones (54.999), or Emma Malabuyo (54.832) could make a case for themselves as team members or alternates.

After once again notching the second-best bars score (14.800) of the meet behind Lee, Riley McCusker is positioned to be named as the second specialist for the U.S. team alongside her Arizona Sunrays teammate and training partner Jade Carey.

Carey, who has already qualified to the Tokyo Games as an individual, had a solid overall performance on Friday despite a fall on bars.

The floor and vault powerhouse was not set to compete the former event according to the start list, but the 21-year-old ended up doing so anyway, scoring a 13.133.

The future Oregon State gymnast only competed one vault – another exceptional Amanar – after arriving to the meet with a brace on her right calf.

Competition at the 2021 US Gymnastics Olympic Trials concludes Sunday evening at 8 p.m. ET and will be aired on Olympic Channel from until 8:30 p.m. ET before switching to NBC from 8:30-11 p.m. ET.

You can relive day one of the 2021 U.S. Championships by reading our live blog from the women’s session here. Click here for full results.

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