Biles sets sights on sixth national title
4-time Olympic gold medalist plans to unveil new additions to her routine
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While the other elite women compete with each other beginning Friday night for pecking order on the USA Gymnastics team for the upcoming world championships, Simone Biles will compete, as always, against air.
Biles. 22, the four-time Olympic gold medalist from Spring, is so technically advanced over the rest of the women’s field that the only question is whether she will win the
Friday/Sunday competition at the Sprint Center by more than the 6.55 points by which she won last year.
That is a distinct possibility, given the extra moves she plans to premiere on one or both nights.
On floor exercise, Biles will attempt to become the first woman to complete a triple-twisting, doubletuck somersault. On balance beam, she will attempt to become the first to dismount with a doubletwisting double somersault.
Still to be determined is if she will add an extra front flip to the floor tumbling pass that already is named in her honor.
The national championships will be Biles’ third competition this year, following a World Cup win at Stuttgart, Germany, in March and the U.S. Classic last month at Louisville, Ky.
“I feel like I’m in a little bit better shape than at Classic,” Biles said this week. “We put in a lot of work in these last two weeks to come out with some upgrades.
“A lot of them I didn’t think were possible, but when we got into the gym, we worked hard and we’re here.”
Laurent Landi, Biles’ coach, said there’s an “80 percent, 90 percent” chance that Biles will do the double-double beam dismount on one or both nights. The triple-double on her first floor pass will be on the agenda both nights, but the additional front flip on her Biles floor pass may not make the cut.
“I don’t want her to lose more than she gains (in scoring potential),” he said. “It’s already a very difficult routine. It’s the hardest routine ever done by a woman, but we need to polish it and do it as well as possible.”
As a reminder that Biles on occasion has too much spring to be contained between the white lines of the tumbling mat, he added, “And it would be great if she can stay in bounds, too.”
Biles won all four individual event titles last year in addition to the all-around championship, her fifth.
Other contenders for podium positions include 2017 world allaround champion Morgan Hurd of Middletown, Del,; Pan American Games silver medalist Riley McCusker of Brielle, N.J.; world championships vault silver medalist Jade Carey of Phoenix; and 2018 world team gold medalist Grace McCallum of Isanti, Minn.
Three gymnasts from the Kansas City area also will receive hometown support — 2018 world team gold medalist Kara Eaker of Grain Valley, Mo; Aleah Finnegan of Lee’s Summit, Mo.; and American Cup champion Leanne Wong of Overland Park, Kan.
In addition to Biles, who trains at the family-owned World Champions Centre, teammate Jordan Chiles of Spring will compete in the senior division and Karis German and Zoe Miller, both of Spring, in the junior division. Sophia Butler of Houston, who trains at Discover Gymnastics, also will compete as a junior.