Simone Biles- In a league of her own

2013 was a breakout year for sixteen year old Simone Biles. After dominating both the US Nationals and World Championships last month, the 4' 8 bundle of joy got right back into the gym to continue working on some outrageous upgrades! In recent training videos, Simone can be seen working a Bhardwaj transition on bars (pak salto with a full twist), a double double dismount off beam (video below) and a piked arabian double front on floor! Simone does these skills with such ease, it's hard to believe that she is still recovering from the ankle surgery she had following the World Championships. (She will be attending her first camp since Worlds this week!)

                        

Surprisingly enough, the insanity doesn't stop there. Simone has also been training a triple twisting yurchenko on vault (I've only seen one video of her actually landing it), as well as a "Mustafina" vault (half on, full twist off).  In a recent interview with International Gymnast Magazine, Simone's coach Aimee Boorman says that Simone would like to introduce another new floor skill to the code of points next season. If Simone actually competes everything she does in the gym, she could have several skills in the code of points; all skills that have an extremely high difficulty value! The possibilities are endless for future upgrades and it's exciting to think about what she might do next! Since Simone is literally dynamite- nothing would really surprise me.

Photo Credit: GymShark

At this point, Simone really is in a league of her own. I don't think there is a gymnast in the world (on the womens side) that is currently doing gymnastics up to the level that Simone is. She is definitely pushing her competitors to step up their game if they want to even think about beating her. The thing about Simone that is refreshing is that she's not just chucking crazy skills into a pit, she is actually doing them very well. I could actually see her competing that double double dismount off beam and landing it! It's not just some crazy impossible skill that she's chucking in the gym. She is so powerful and gets such great height- she could realistically add another full twist onto almost every skill she does! I would not be surprised if we see a triple twisting double in the near future.

                         

Simone Biles, who was almost unknown just last year, is now the new face of gymnastics. She's the girl everyone is chasing. What do you think of Simone's crazy gymnastics? Does she have what it takes to become one of the greatest gymnasts of all time?