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PARIS — Simone Biles is going for a six-pack.
Biles will attempt a skill on uneven bars that no one’s done yet, the International Gymnastics Federation said Friday. If successful, it would be the sixth skill named for Biles and would give her one on every event. She has two skills each on vault and floor exercise, and one on balance beam.
Skills are named for the first gymnast who does them successfully at a major international meet. Biles begins competition at the Paris Olympics on Sunday with qualifications, but she could do it at any point during the Games to have it named for her.
The skill is described as ‘a clear hip circle forward with 1 1/2 turns to handstand,’ according to the FIG, and is a variation of a skill first done by Canadian gymnast Wilhelm Weiler. In plain English, starting in a handstand position on the upper bar, Biles would dip her body below and around the bar and then rise back into a handstand. She would then do 1 1/2 pirouettes before coming to a stop in a handstand position.
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Biles is likely to do the new skill at the beginning of her uneven bars routine, according to the FIG. It’s been valued as an E, which would give it a difficulty value of 0.5 points.
If Biles completes the skill, she’d be the only active female gymnast to have at least one skill named for her on all four apparatuses.
