Gymnastics

Simone Biles made history Saturday.

She landed the Yurchenko double pike for the first time in competition during the U.S. Classic in Indianapolis not long after she caught the attention of LeBron James:

THE QUEEN HAS SPOKEN 👑

Simone Biles landed her Yurchenko double pike for the first time in competition.@simonebiles // #USClassic pic.twitter.com/j07ZweBZ8H

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) May 23, 2021

MY GOODNESS @Simone_Biles!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/ejJ5hfPaWm

— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 21, 2021

Steven Taranto of CBS Sports noted Biles is competing for the first time since 2019. She returned in style, pulling off a move no woman ever has in competition.

"I've been doing it for months now, so I felt prepared and knew I was prepared," she said of the Yurchenko double pike after practice Friday, per David Barron of the Houston Chronicle (h/t Taranto). "It was just the initial landing out there in the arena. But once I did it, I felt a lot better."

The four-time Olympic gold medalist appears primed to add to her total during the Tokyo Games if this is any indication.

Simone Biles has continuously amazed millions of onlookers as she defies logic en route to delivering dazzling performances, and she did so again Friday after landing a Yurchenko double pike while practicing for the U.S. Classic in Indianapolis.

Simone Biles just landed her Yurchenko double pike in podium training and we are SPEECHLESS. 😮 #USClassic@Simone_Biles @OnHerTurf pic.twitter.com/S9YsasXoXu

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) May 21, 2021

Naturally, a lot of people were stunned after watching, including Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James:

MY GOODNESS @Simone_Biles!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 https://t.co/ejJ5hfPaWm

— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 21, 2021

Simone Biles basically just stuck the Yurchenko double pike. The height she gets on that is literally impossible. I thought it was a piked timer at first and then was like wait, no, that was a legit double back. I'm normally like "I'M SCREAMING" but with that, I'm SPEECHLESS.

— The Gymternet (@thegymterdotnet) May 21, 2021

Where was Simone Biles born because it clearly was not on Earth

— Jasmine B. (@jazzvangogh) May 21, 2021

please watch Simone Biles do this and then watch this GIF of the dude who won the gold medal in vault in 1932 https://t.co/Zjp8HLzKIt pic.twitter.com/jxh3QLFK0G

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) May 21, 2021

https://twitter.com/racheldoerrie/status/1395758330971295751

Biles has won 25 gold medals at international championship competitions, including 19 at the World Championships, four at the Summer Olympics and two at the FIG World Cup. That's in addition to four silver medals and four bronze medals at world competitions.

She could be in position to make more history at the upcoming Summer Olympics as well:

No American woman in any sport has won 5 gold medals at a single Games but Simone Biles could be the one to change that at the #TokyoOlympics.

She could also become the first to repeat as the women’s all-around Olympic champion since in 1968.@Simone_Biles @TeamUSA @OnHerTurf pic.twitter.com/Rr3T4HOn1v

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) May 19, 2021

The U.S. Classic, which serves as a warm-up to the U.S. Championships and Olympic Trials, will begin on Saturday. NBCSN will televise the event starting at 7 p.m. ET.

United States Olympic gymnast Simone Biles has signed an apparel contract with Athleta after partnering with Nike for six years.

In an interview with Louise Radnofsky of the Wall Street Journal, Biles discussed why she made the move to Athleta:

"It wasn’t just about my achievements, it’s what I stood for and how they were going to help me use my voice and also be a voice for females and kids. I feel like they also support me, not just as an athlete, but just as an individual outside of the gym and the change that I want to create, which is so refreshing."

Biles also said she felt "it was time for a change" and lauded the fact that Athleta has a workforce that is 97 percent comprised of women, saying it is "truly for women by women."

In addition to the activewear contract, Biles told Radnofsky that Athleta is providing her with a platform to be an activist for women and girls as well.

Athleta, which was founded by Gap in 1998, will give Biles her own product line, which is something that never happened with Nike. Biles said she feels "Athleta is committed to diversity and inclusion, of all women, backgrounds, ages, sizes, abilities and races."

Biles will join longtime Olympic sprinter Allyson Felix, who left Nike over maternity rights to sign with Athleta in 2019.

The 24-year-old Biles is arguably the greatest gymnast of all time, as she won five medals in her Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Four of those medals were gold, including the all-around and team events.

Biles has also won a remarkable 25 medals at the World Championships, including 19 golds. She has won World Championship gold in the all-around five times and team event on four occasions.

At the 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo, Biles will look to add to her impressive career haul. If she repeats as the gold medalist in the all-around, she will become the first woman to win that event at back-to-back Olympics since Czechoslovakia's Vera Caslavska in 1964 and 1968.

Also, the U.S. has a chance to become the first country to win three straight team golds since the Soviet Union won eight in a row from 1952-1980.

German gymnast Sarah Voss said Friday she decided with her teammates, Elisabeth Seitz and Kim Bui, to compete in nontraditional full bodysuits during the 2021 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships this week in Switzerland.

Voss, 21, explained to German broadcaster ZDF (via the BBC) she became "increasingly uncomfortable" wearing a standard gymnastics outfit as she grew older.

"We women all want to feel good in our skin," Voss said. "In the sport of gymnastics it gets harder and harder as you grow out of your child's body. As a little girl I didn't see the tight gym outfits as such a big deal. But when puberty began, when my period came, I began feeling increasingly uncomfortable."

She added: "We hope gymnasts uncomfortable in the usual outfits will feel emboldened to follow our example."

The German Gymnastics Federation said its athletes are taking a stand against "sexualization in gymnastics."

International Gymnastics Federation guidelines allow for a "one-piece leotard with full-length legs—hip to ankle" as long as it maintains an "elegant design," according to the BBC.

Voss has competed for Germany since 2015. She won the country's all-around national title in 2019 after taking first place in both the vault and the balance beam. She finished seventh on the beam at the 2019 World Championships.

She's a contender to represent Germany at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo later this year.

United States gymnastics star Simone Biles is teasing a possible appearance at the 2024 Olympics. 

In an interview with Nancy Armour of USA Today, Biles said "it'd be neat to end it there and hang it up" when discussing competing at the Paris Games. 

There was a point when Biles revealed she wasn't sure about competing at the Tokyo Olympics after it was postponed by one year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"I've made it this far," she told David Barron of the Houston Chronicle in April 2020. "You can't give it up now. I've worked too hard to just give it all away."

Scott Bregman of Olympic Channel noted in February that "all indications" are Biles will walk away from Olympic competition after the 2020 Games.

Already the most decorated gymnast of all time, with 25 medals in world events, Biles won five medals at the 2016 Olympics. She won individual gold in the all-around, vault, floor exercise and in the artistic team all-around competition.

Biles will represent the United States at the Olympics this summer, with the Tokyo Games set to take place from July 23-Aug. 8.

John Geddert, head coach of the 2012 United States women's Olympic gymnastics team, physically and verbally assaulted his gymnasts throughout his career. 

Per court documents obtained by ESPN's John Barr and Dan Murphy, Geddert is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 14-year-old gymnast after a practice at the Twistars USA Gymnastics Club. 

The documents also note that investigators said "multiple women...attempted suicide after years of trauma from training with Geddert."

One of the gymnasts said that Geddert told her she "should climb off the top of the rafters of the gym, jump off and kill herself."

Other gymnasts detailed Geddert's pattern of "downplaying serious injuries, pushing gymnasts to train in unsafe conditions, berating young girls for their weight and their intelligence, spitting in their faces and stomping on their bare feet when he was unhappy with their performance."

Barr and Murphy noted that Geddert had been investigated by Michigan police for allegations of abuse dating back to November 2011: 

"The parent of a Twistars gymnast, who also worked at the club, told state police that Geddert followed her into the parking lot after an argument during practice. The woman told police Geddert screamed obscenities at her, among other things calling her "white trailer trash" and assaulted her by stepping on her foot and chest bumping her."

Geddert was a long-time associate of former USA Gymnastics trainer Larry Nassar, who is currently serving a minimum of 125 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of sexual assault and child pornography. 

Per the Associated Press, Geddert was charged with 24 crimes Thursday including sexual assault, human trafficking and running a criminal enterprise. He died by suicide that same day after the charges were announced. 

Geddert retired from USA Gymnastics in January 2018 after the organization announced he had been suspended pending the result of an investigation into his alleged abuse. 

Seventeen former gymnasts, including three Olympians, have sent British Gymnastics a Letter Before Action stating their intent to take legal action against the organization based on their allegations that numerous coaches subjected them to "systemic physical and psychological abuse." 

The news has been reported by CNN's Matias Grez, Sean Ingle of the Guardian and Ken Maguire of the Associated Press, among others.

Hausfield, the law firm representing the gymnasts, who are all women, started the alleged abuse included "inappropriate use of physical force by coaches against gymnasts constituting physical assault" and "abusive and harmful coaching techniques which have no justification in science or theory," per Grez.

The statement from Hausfield reads that the gymnasts have suffered long-term "psychological and physical damage" as a result of the allegations, per Grez, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Gymnasts reported specific physical abuse including being "punched, kicked, slapped or held by the ears by coaches," per Ingle. These acts were allegedly done as a "form of humiliation" for not performing correctly.

Per Ingle, the letter also said that gymnasts were forced to "starve themselves" in order to hit goal weights and that those who did not hit those goals were forced to undergo "punishment conditioning" or wear fat suits.

"British Gymnastics implemented a model of suspended pre-pubescence leading to generations of girls with eating disorders, body image issues, and deliberately stunted physical development," the letter reads, according to Ingle. "Many of the claimants now suffer from eating disorders, body dysmorphia and/or an unhealthy relationship with food."

Claire Heafford, the campaign director of Gymnasts for Change and one of the 17 claimants, released a statement, via Maguire.

"This is a landmark moment in our campaign for justice," Heafford said. "This is not and has never been about a few bad apples, this is about decades of systemic abuse, encouraged and covered up by those at the top."

Jennifer Pinches, who competed for Great Britain in the 2012 Summer Olympics, also provided a statement, per Ingle:

"For too long we have seen British Gymnastics prioritise podiums over people which has led to untold damage to the lives of young people. It is a heartbreaking truth to face, knowing the level of abuse that we and so many others were subjected to. This is just the beginning of the sweeping changes that we are demanding, and the justice that we will fight for."

British Gymnastics acknowledged receipt of the Letter Before Action but declined further comment.

"It would not be appropriate or fair to all parties for us to make any comment until we have had the opportunity for it to be fully considered," the organization said, per Maguire.

Ex-British Gymnastics CEO Jane Allen recently retired in December as the organization was being investigated for allegations of abuse.

Last August, she wrote an exclusive article for the Telegraph, saying that the organization had "fallen short" of protecting the gymnasts and that those who had spoken out were "very brave."

Facebook Watch announced Thursday that a docuseries focusing on superstar gymnast Simone Biles entitled Simone vs Herself will debut during the summer of 2021.

The trailer for the docuseries dropped Thursday as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D354sv_HGA

The series is set to debut in conjunction with Biles' preparations of the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which are scheduled to begin in late July.

Biles had the following to say about the series and why being part of it appealed to her:

"My gymnastics career has been filled with a lot of ups and downs despite what a lot of people may think, and, in a lot of ways, my career has felt like I've been trying to prove myself to others. My mom has always encouraged me to be the 'best Simone I can be' and I now have a true appreciation for what that really means, which is one of the big reasons I wanted to come back for Tokyo.

"I want to challenge myself to be the best Simone I can be for me and, no matter the outcome, share with my fans the process and approach I am taking along the way in the hope that it may help inspire others to be the best version of themselves too."

The 23-year-old Biles has already done it all in the world of gymnastics, but she is attempting to run it back in Tokyo after dominating the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Biles won four gold medals and one bronze in Rio, including gold in the all-around and team events while representing the United States. She also has 19 world championship gold medals to her credit, including five in the all-around and four in the team event.

Biles was supposed to go for gold in the Olympics last year, but the 2020 Summer Games were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given how short the shelf life tends to be for gymnasts, Biles called the postponement a "nightmare" in the teaser for Simone vs Herself.

Despite the setback, Biles is looking to become the first woman to win the individual all-around at back-to-back Olympics since Czechoslovakia's Vera Caslavska accomplished the feat in 1964 and 1968.

Simone vs Herself will detail that quest and Biles' attempt to cement herself as perhaps the greatest gymnast of all time.

Dianne Durham, who became the first Black woman to win a USA Gymnastics national championship in 1983, died Thursday after a short illness, her husband Tom Drahozal told the Associated Press. 

She was 52.

"It was groundbreaking what [Durham] did," gymnast Wendy Hilliard told ESPN's Bonnie D. Ford and Alyssa Roenigk in July. "And especially now, to see how hard it is for Black Americans in 2020, people will understand how groundbreaking it was back in 1983. In the Black community, your parents tell you this very early on: In [any] situation where you have to be judged or critiqued for your performance, you have to be twice as good."

"I think between her and Mary Lou Retton, they felt they introduced more of a power gymnastics," Drahozal added. "Dianne was a pioneer for Black gymnasts as well ... She paved the way for others."

We are heartbroken to share the passing of gymnastics pioneer and icon Dianne Durham. Dianne was the first Black gymnast to capture a national all-around title and paved the way for generations of gymnasts who followed. Our thoughts are with her family. https://t.co/9LC8WzpRH6

— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) February 4, 2021

From @Li_Li_Leung "As an icon and trailblazer in our sport, Dianne opened doors for generations of gymnasts who came after her, and her legacy carries on each day in gyms across the country."

— Will Graves (@WillGravesAP) February 4, 2021

Injuries played a part in keeping Durham out of the 1984 Olympics, forcing her to miss the 1983 world championships and leading her to get scratched from the uneven bars in the 1984 Olympic trials.

Because the rules stated that only gymnasts who finished top-eight at the trials qualified for the Olympic team—and only gymnasts who both competed at the 1983 world championships and also finished top-eight in the national competition that year were eligible to petition to make the team—Durham was left off the Olympic team while Retton starred in the 1984 Games.

Durham stopped competing after that disappointment. 

"Unfortunately, she didn't get into the Olympics because of politics," Drahozal said. "I think she'd come to terms with it. She was doing professional shows (when we met in 1992). But she had told me, 'It was what it was, I can't go back and redo it again.'"

"I was depressed," Durham added in July. "The city of Gary was behind me 100,000 percent, and I felt like I let my family down. Everybody uprooted their lives for me. It does take a chunk out of you, when you have literally played by the rules and done the right things and trained hard and did everything that you were supposed to do correctly, to have it end up that way."

That she wasn't able to compete in the 1984 Games—and to this day has not been admitted to the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame—is a blight on the country's gymnastics history. Nonetheless, Durham is a pioneer in the sport. 

Riley McCusker and Emily Liszewski filed lawsuits in late October against former MG Elite Gymnastics coaches Maggie Haney and Victoria Levine alleging a "culture of abuse." 

Katie Kausch of NJ Advance Media reported Monday the women said in the lawsuits filed in New Jersey's Monmouth County Superior Court that the training environment at MG Elite regularly included "screaming, body shaming, discouraging girls from getting their periods and unsafe training conditions." The women said this culture led to injuries and athletes training while suffering from injuries.

Along with Haney and Levine, MG Elite, Monmouth Gymnastics and Arena Gymnastics are all named as defendants in both cases.

McCusker, 19, is a contender to earn a place on the Team USA gymnastics squad for the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Liszewski, 18, competes at the collegiate level for the University of Pittsburgh.

Haney, who coached New Jersey native Laurie Hernandez when she competed in the 2016 Summer Games, became the focus of a USA Gymnastics investigation in August 2019 based on allegations of verbal and emotional abuse.

Hernandez was among those who came forward with allegations of a culture of fear and abuse at MG Elite, however, she has not filed a lawsuit against Haney or Levine.

In April, USA Gymnastics, the sport's governing body in the U.S., banned Haney from coaching for eight years after it determined she violated its "Code of Ethical Conduct, Safe Sport Policy and other policies," per CNN's Jason Hanna.

McCusker's lawsuit says the abuse occurred for her entire senior career at MG Elite from 2017 through 2019, stating she was "forced" by the coaches to train through injuries that became progressively worse and led her to be diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, according to Kausch.

Haney released a statement to NJ Advance Media through her spokesperson, Lisa Mercurio, in which she denied all of the allegations against her and claimed McCusker's mother, Jessica, was the one who limited her daughter's food intake and pushed her to train while injured.

"I hope Jess knows what she's doing because this situation isn't going to help calm Riley's nerves," Haney said in reference to next year's Olympics.

McCusker has moved to Phoenix to train with the Arizona Sunrays.

Liszewski said Haney and Levine "pressured her" into trying skills on the uneven bars that were beyond her ability, which led her to fall and suffer serious injuries in April 2016. She was unconscious for three days and suffered a fractured skull and seizures.

She left the MG Elite program after the injury.

Levine didn't provide a statement to NJ Advance Media about the allegations from either gymnast. She was suspended indefinitely in March pending a USA Gymnastics investigation.

Neither gymnast has spoken publicly about the allegations but they both spoke during Haney's USA Gymnastics suspension hearings.