HARTFORD, Conn. — Simone Biles isn’t holding back.
A little over two months out from the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, the 2016 all-around champion opened her 2024 campaign at the Core Hydration Classic with the return of statement-making eponymous skills on floor exercise and vault that propelled her to the all-around title with a 59.500 score.
On the floor, Biles brought back the triple-twisting double back tuck, also known as the Biles II, that she competed in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games but didn’t throw at all last season. Though a bit too much bounce resulted in her going out of bounds, her routine was still good enough for a 14.800 and first place in the event.
Simone Biles entertains the crowd with a superb floor routine! ✨
📺 @cnbc & @peaco*ck | #CoreClassic pic.twitter.com/uNujoJfjE0
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) May 19, 2024
Another Biles II made an appearance when the 27-year-old rotated to vault and competed the Yurchenko double pike, notably without her coach Laurent Landi on the mat as a spotter. While performing the double pike vault last season, Biles opted to have Landi on the mat which resulted in an automatic deduction each time she competed the skill. But at the Classic, even with two big steps backward on the landing, the incredibly difficult vault earned Biles a 15.600 — the single highest score of the competition.
No spotter, no problem.@Simone_Biles scores a 15.600 on Vault with the Biles II.#CoreClassic | @NBCOlympics | @TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/QvotvGRKQD
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) May 19, 2024
Biles wasn’t the only gymnast to clear the 15.000 mark, as 2023 world all-around bronze medalist Shilese Jones hit a high-flying bar routine for a 15.250. Jones added a new laid-out release move to the beginning of her uneven bars routine that increased her difficulty score and strengthened her already solid case for making the five-woman squad heading to Paris this summer. Jones finished first on bars, her best event, and added second-place finishes on floor and in the all-around.
The field for the competition, which serves as a qualifier for U.S. Championships and a sort of tune-up meet, featured three Olympic champions in addition to Biles, a handful of NCAA stars and multiple up-and-comers trying to prove their Olympic potential.
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Suni Lee, the 2016 Olympic all-around champion, didn’t compete on bars but won the beam title with a 14.600. London breakout star Gabby Douglas was slated to compete in the all-around but withdrew from the competition after struggling on the uneven bars in her first rotation of the night. The 2012 all-around champion fell twice, struggling mightily on pirouetting elements that were staples in her routines during the London quad.
The Classic also saw Konnor McClain’s return to elite gymnastics end in heartbreaking fashion. The 2022 U.S. national champion, who helped LSU to its first NCAA gymnastics title in April, was carried off the floor after suffering a torn Achilles while warming up a double layout on floor. She showed promise in her first routine of the night on beam, scoring an impressive 14.200 while only doing a simple back layout dismount that would have been upgraded to something more difficult in the run up to Paris. She later returned to walk around the XL Center on crutches with her left lower leg heavily bandaged and was recognized as the beam bronze medalist.
Jordan Chiles, who was a part of the 2020 Olympic team that took silver, put up four hit performances highlighted by a clean double-twisting vault and a new Beyoncé-inspired floor routine. Tokyo Olympic floor exercise champion Jade Carey placed first on vault with an average score of 14.225 over her two vaults — a requirement to contend for an individual title on the event.
The next test for the gymnasts hoping to punch a ticket to Paris arrives in two weeks, when they’ll travel to Fort Worth, Texas, for U.S. Championships. Nationals will run from May 30 to June 2 and also feature the men’s national championship.
Required reading
- Gabby Douglas withdraws from Core Hydration Classic amid Olympic comeback attempt
(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu /Getty Images)
Tess DeMeyer is a Staff Editor for The Athletic working on the live/breaking news team. Prior to joining The Athletic, she worked as an associate digital producer at Sports Illustrated. Tess attended Brown University and originates from a small town outside of Savannah, GA. Follow Tess on Twitter @tess_demeyer
