US Gymnastics National Championships 2021 Results: Simone Biles stamps her authority
Simone Biles hogged the limelight on the second day of the US Gymnastics National Championships with a score of 59.75 points. She currently leads 2019 US national silver medallist Suni Lee by 2.4 points.
Sunday’s conclusion should be a cracker of a contest, with Simone Biles’ training mate Jordan Chiles joining the fray for bragging rights. Chiles ended Day 2 with 56.9 points, just 0.45 adrift of Suni Lee.
If Biles manages to win the US Gymnastics National Championships 2021, the 24-year-old will draw level with Clara Schroth Lomady for the most all-round titles - at seven.
Read: Top 5 gymnasts to watch out at the 2021 US National Gymnastics Championships
Simone Biles scored 15.8 on vault, 14.65 on floor, and 14.35 on beam, while managing only 14.75 on uneven bars - the only event where she came second to Suni Lee, who scored 15.3 on uneven bars.
For the record, Simone Biles, who is also a four-time gymnastics Olympic champion, considers uneven bars her least favorite event.
Simone Biles keeps it simple
Simone Biles did not perform the Yurchenko double pike vault and the double twisting-double back dismount on balance beam at the National Championships. Incidentally, Biles debuted on the Yurchenko double pike vault as recently as two weeks ago.
Even though Simone Biles was the cynosure of all eyes, she wasn’t completely perfect. The 24-year-old American separated her legs on bars and also had a minor hiccup of a bobble on the beam, and had even stepped out three times after failing to control her tumbles. But she had come a long way from unsavory experiences in the preceding tournament – the US Classic – where she fell on the mat on uneven bars and even put her hands down on the floor event.
Also read: What is the Yurchenko double pike? And why Simone Biles may not perform it at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics?
The performance would give Simone Biles the boost she was looking for, with the Olympic trials just three weeks away and only 50 days to go for the Tokyo Games.
While the top eight all-rounders at the US Gymnastics National Championships will qualify for the Olympic trials, the rest of the lot will be selected by a selection committee. Speaking to NBCSN, Simone Biles said:
"Tonight I feel like it was really good, it was definitely better than the Classic. Floor could have been a little bit better; I need to control my adrenaline.”
Only six women can board the flight to Tokyo – four in a team and two individuals – outlining how difficult it is to make the team in gymnastics in the US. With one spot guaranteed to Simone Biles, who is the reigning Olympic Champion and the greatest gymnast of all time, there are only four spots to fight for, with 29 gymnasts trying their luck.