Watch the two go head-to-head in the all-around at 11:15 a.m. CT today on NBC 5 and Peacock.
Simone Biles is heavily favored to win gold in the women’s gymnastics all-around final, but her biggest competitor, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, is planning some serious upgrades to challenge the GOAT.
Biles has a total of five skills named after her so far- including two on the vault. The Biles II on vault, which is a Yurchenko entry with two piked backflips, has gone viral for its difficulty and Biles’ execution.
According to the International Gymnastics Federation’s code of points, in order for a skill to carry a gymnast’s name they must perform the move successfully and “without major fault” for the first time at an international competition such as the Olympics or World Championships.
The Biles II was officially named after Biles when she competed it at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp. The skill has a difficulty value of 6.4- making it the hardest vault in the women’s competition.
Despite Biles being the favorite, Andrade is inching up behind her. In the preliminary qualification round of competition, Biles ended with an all-around score of 59.566 and Andrade ended with a score of 57.700.
The scores may seem like Biles has a leg up, and although she is still the favorite, Andrade is planning to go in to the final with a higher difficulty score than she had in the qualification round.
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Andrade has submitted her own vault to be named after her- a triple twisting Yurchenko. Since the skill has never been successfully competed in an international competition by a woman, it would be named the Andrade if she attempts it and pulls it off.
Andrade’s proposed vault has a start value of 6.0. Although lower than Simone’s, this is still a significant upgrade that could result in a huge score.
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Although Andrade didn't compete in the triple twisting Yurchenko in the all-around final on Thursday, she will have another chance to get the skill named after her on August 3, when she competes in the vault final.
She’s also no stranger to pressure in large competitions. Andrade clinched the silver medal in the all-around at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
And when Biles dropped out of the vault final at the Tokyo Games, Andrade took home the gold.
Watch the two go head-to-head in the all-around at 11:15 a.m. CT today on NBC 5 and Peacock.
