Simone Biles vault final shows athlete safety doesn't matter to FIG at world championships

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Simone Biles vault final shows athlete safety doesn't matter to FIG at world championships

Nancy Armour, USA TODAY · USA TODAY Sports

Sat, Oct 7, 2023 ·

14 min read

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ANTWERP, Belgium — Simone Biles knew the tradeoff she was making. It doesn't make it right.

Biles won the silver medal on vault Saturday in part because she was docked a half-point for having coach Laurent Landi stand on the mat while she did the Biles II, previously known as the Yurchenko double pike. She finished with a combined score of 14.75 for her two vaults, 0.201 behind Brazil 's Rebeca Andrade.

It doesn't take a math genius to see the effect the deduction had.

Granted, Biles didn't do anywhere close to her best version of the vault. She got so much power on it she landed on her heels and fell to her back. But that isn't the point. The International Gymnastics Federation likes to claim it's prioritizing the health and safety of its athletes and, time and again, it sells them out.

Good-luck charm: Simone Biles' decade-old gift adds sweet serendipity to gymnastics worlds

There was the inexcusable screw up in the lineup for the vault final earlier Saturday, when either the FIG or Swiss Timing, which runs its scoring system, didn't understand the rules for alternate athletes and announced the wrong one. The error was eventually corrected, but not before it upended Olympic qualifying for athletes from Hungary and Mexico .

The FIG's only explanation was to say it was "an administrative error." But that does nothing to explain how such an inexcusable mistake could be made or how it's going to fix the harm done.

The deduction for Landi being on the mat is even worse. There's no bailout for the Yurchenko double pike, meaning Biles would likely land on her head or neck if something went awry. Landi is there to step in and flip her into a safer position if that's the case.

Landi isn't spotting Biles or assisting her in her rotation. He's there in case of emergency. But the FIG won't budge on its rules.

Making their obstinance all the more ridiculous is that coaches are allowed to be on the mat for uneven bars. Because of, wait for it, safety! So the FIG is fine with protecting athletes on one event but not another. All righty then!

Again, this isn't about placements or medals. It's about whether athletes matter and, to the FIG, they clearly don't.

How did USA gymnasts fare in event finals of gymnastics world championships?

ANTWERP, Belgium — The Americans are done for the day.

None of the U.S. men made the final for the last event, the still rings. The U.S. team finishes the day with three medals: silvers by Simone Biles on vault and Khoi Young on pommel horse, and a bronze by Shilese Jones on uneven bars.

Biles and Jones will be back at it again Sunday, having both qualified for the balance beam and floor exercise finals. Young is in the vault final along Paul Juda, who also made the high bar final. Asher Hong and Yul Moldauer will be in the parallel bars final.

Shilese Jones feeling 'boost of confidence' after world championships

Shilese Jones likes the position she's in.

The American won her third medal of these world championships Saturday with a bronze on uneven bars. That follows her team gold and bronze in the all-around.

Not bad for someone who didn't compete until the U.S. championships in late August because of shoulder and ankle injuries.

"The beginning of this year has been really crazy," Jones said after the bars final. "I didn't even think I would get this far — it was a big-time dream that I had. But I feel like I'm on the right path heading into Paris. Three events and three medals so far, it's just boosting my confidence. I'm going to get back in the gym and train even harder for next year."

After worlds, of course. Jones has also qualified for the balance beam and floor exercise finals Sunday.

Shilese Jones uneven bars win bronze, Simone Biles doesn't medal

ANTWERP, Belgium — Shilese Jones is three-for-three.

With a gold medal from the team competition and a bronze from the all-around already, Jones added a bronze on uneven bars Saturday. She was up first in the eight-woman final, but had to see if her score of 14.766 would hold up.

Qiu Qiyuan of China and Kaylia Nemour of Algeria both passed her, but Jones was still in third when it got to Simone Biles, the last in the eight-woman field to go. Biles doesn't have Jones' difficulty, and she also appeared to stall on a pirouette right before her dismount. Her score of 14.2 put her in fifth, and Jones had the bronze medal.

Both American women won medals Saturday, with Biles claiming the silver on vault.

Shilese Jones uneven bars stun, is it enough for medal?

ANTWERP, Belgium — Shilese Jones' uneven bars routine was gorgeous. Now she has to wait to see if it's good enough for a medal.

Jones, who already has a gold from the team competition and a bronze in the all-around, was up first on bars and posted a 14.766. Her routine was beautiful, and she flitted from high bar to low bar and back again as if she was weightless. She stuck her landing without so much as a wiggle.

But there are seven gymnasts still to come, including China's Qiu Qiyuan, who had the highest score in qualifying.

Khoi Young gets silver on pommel horse, USA men impress at gymnastics world championships

ANTWERP, Belgium — The U.S. men are having their best showing at the world championships since 2014. And it's not over yet.

Khoi Young won a silver on pommel horse Saturday, giving the U.S. men their third medal after bronzes in the team competition and by Fred Richard in the all-around. That's the most the American men have had at a worlds since 2014, when they also won three.

They have several more opportunities to add to their total in Sunday's event final. Young and Paul Juda are in the vault final, and Juda also qualified on high bar. Asher Hong and Yul Moldauer qualified on parallel bars.

With medal favorites Lee Chih Kai and Max Whitlock, Young's score of 14.966 looked as if it would be good enough for a medal. Maybe even gold. But reigning world champion Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland was superb, and he edged Young by 0.134 points.

It's only the second pommel horse medal won at worlds by a U.S. man since 2006. Stephen Nedoroscik won the title in 2021.

Simone Biles settles for silver in vault, Brazil's Rebeca Andrade takes gold

ANTWERP, Belgium — Putting her safety first cost Simone Biles another vault title at the world championships.

Rebeca Andrade of Brazil had a combined score of 14.750 for her two vaults, 0.201 points better than Biles. But Biles score included a half-point deduction for having coach Laurent Landi stand on the mat when she did her Yurchenko double pike, a vault so difficult few men even try it.

Landi doesn't touch or assist Biles. He's only there to step in if something goes wrong because there is no bailout for the Yurchenko double pike. If Biles got off-center, she'd be likely to land on her head or neck.

Making this even more nonsensical is the International Gymnastics Federation does allow coaches to stand on the mat during the uneven bars. For safety reasons.

Biles wasn't perfect Saturday. She got so much power on the Yurchenko double pike, now known as the Biles II, that she overrotated, landed on her heels and fell onto her back. She also had a slight hop on her second vault, the Cheng.

Andrade wasn't perfect either. But judges seemed to not notice her shuffling her feet on the landing of her Cheng, awarding her a 15 with a 9.4 execution score.

The medal is Biles' 28th at the world championships. Her 35 medals at worlds and the Olympics are more than any other gymnast, male or female.

Simone Biles vault final score: 14.549 after too much power on Yurchenko double pike

ANTWERP, Belgium — Only Simone Biles could have too much power on a Yurchenko double pike.

Biles over rotated the vault that's now named for her — the Biles II, for those keeping track — and landed on her heels. She fell flat on her back and quickly got up to salute the judges. She scored a 14.433, though that includes the half-point deduction she takes for having coach Laurent Landi stand on the mat for safety reasons .

She had a slight hop back on her second vault, a Cheng, and scored a 14.666. Her combined total was a 14.549, and she'll have to wait until the end of the final to see if it'll hold up for her third vault title because Brazil's Rebeca Andrade goes last.

Leanne Wong vault score: 13.466

NTWERP, Belgium — Leanne Wong knows how to do her job.

Yes, that is a shot at the International Gymnastics Federation and/or Swiss Timing, who screwed up and forced Wong to appeal to get the spot in the vault final she deserved. But Wong didn't let the drama faze her, and is in second place behind Simone Biles at the midway point of the vault final with a 13.466 combined score.

Wong had the 10th-best qualifying score on vault, which ordinarily would have made her the second reserve for the eight-gymnast final. She wasn't initially eligible, however, because Biles and Joscelyn Roberson scored higher than Wong did and there's a two-per-country limit for each individual final.

But Roberson had to withdraw from the vault final with the leg injury she suffered during warmups ahead of the team final. That meant Wong was now eligible to be a reserve and should have gotten the spot that opened when Britain's Jessica Gadirova withdrew.

Someone screwed up, however, and Hungary's Maria Csenge Bacskay was announced as Gadirova's replacement.

Wong appealed, and the FIG corrected itself. But because it had already said Bacskay was competing, Wong and Bacskay were both in the vault final. The error has implications for Olympic qualifications, and it won't be a surprise if the gymnasts affected wind up at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Fred Richard floor score not enough for medal: 13.20

ANTWERP, Belgium — No medal for USA's Fred Richard on floor exercise.

Richard was last in the eight-man final after underrotating his final tumbling pass and needing to put his hands down to keep himself from crashing to the mat. His score of 13.20 was more than 1½ points behind champion Israel's Artem Dolgopyat.

Still, these world championships were a success for Richard, a rising star for the U.S. men. He won a bronze in the all-around, the U.S. men's first all-around medal at worlds since 2010, after helping the American men to their first team medal since 2014, also a bronze.

Where to watch World Gymnastics Championships event finals: TV channel, stream online

The event finals will be streamed on Peacock starting at 8 a.m. ET Saturday, and there will be a highlights show on CNBC on Oct. 8. The full schedule is here .

World Gymnastics Championships schedule

The event finals schedule for Saturday is:

Men's floor exercise, 8-8:45 a.m. ET
Women's vault, 8:50-9:35 a.m.
Pommel horse, 9:40-10:25 a.m.
Uneven bars, 10:30-11:15 a.m.
Still rings, 11:20-noon

What are event finals?

This portion of the competition determines who are the best gymnasts on each of the individual events.

The top eight gymnasts on each apparatus – vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise for women and floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar for men – qualify for the finals, with a limit of two per country.

Who's in what finals?

American gymnasts took two of three podium spots in the all-around competition at the 2023 world championship, with Simone Biles, right, winning gold and Shilese Jones, left, earning the bronze medal.

Biles qualified for all four event finals. Shilese Jones, who won a bronze in the all-around Friday night, should contend for a medal on uneven bars, where she had the second-highest score in qualifying. She also made the finals for balance beam and floor exercise.

Joscelyn Roberson , the youngest member of the U.S. women's team, made the vault final, but said Saturday she was withdrawing because of the leg injury she suffered in warm-ups before the team final. Leanne Wong made the vault final after Britain's Jessica Gadirova withdrew Saturday with an injury.

Skye Blakely was eighth on bars in qualifying but didn't make the final because of the two-per-country rule.

The U.S. men have at least one person in each final except still rings. Fred Richard, the bronze medalist in the all-around, qualified for Saturday's floor final. Paul Juda made both the vault and high bar final, while Khoi Young made the pommel horse and vault finals. Asher Hong and Yul Moldauer both made the parallel bars final.

Hungary gymnast accidentally announced for vault

ANTWERP, Belgium — Event finals haven't started and already there's drama.

American Leanne Wong had the 10th-best qualifying score on vault, which ordinarily would have made her the second reserve for the eight-gymnast final. She wasn't initially eligible, however, because Simone Biles and Joscelyn Roberson scored higher than Wong did and there's a two-per-country limit for each individual final.

But Roberson had to withdraw from the vault final because of the leg injury she suffered during warm-ups ahead of the team final. That meant Wong was now eligible to be a reserve and should have gotten the spot that opened when Britain's Jessica Gadirova withdrew.

Someone screwed up, however, and Hungary's Maria Csenge Bacskay was announced as Gadirova's replacement.

The International Gymnastics Federation corrected itself, though it didn't explain how the error occurred. (My guess is someone looked at the initial start list, not the full qualifying results.) But because it had already said Bacskay was competing, Wong and Bacskay will both be in the vault final.

All of which is to say the two-per-country rule is dumb and the FIG should drop it.

Is there an update on Joscelyn Roberson?

Yes. The 17-year-old said Saturday she was withdrawing from the vault final because of the leg injury she suffered in warmups for the team final. The announcement did not come as a surprise, given Roberson is still in a walking boot.

"I hate to have to tell you guys this, but I will be withdrawing from the vault final," Roberson said in an Instagram post . "On the team finals I landed short on a vault and a freak thing happened. I had hopes of returning but I need this time to rest and recover. Thank you to everyone who has wished me a speedy recovery! I am blessed to be here and I'm grateful for it!!"

Roberson was replaced in the vault final by Canada's Ellie Black.

Roberson injured her left leg during warm-ups before the team final Wednesday night. She landed short on a vault and immediately crouched down, not putting weight on the leg. Coach Laurent Landi carried her off the podium and handed her off to his wife and co-coach, Cecile Landi, who took her to the training staff.

Roberson eventually returned to the floor to cheer on her teammates, but her leg was heavily bandaged and her foot was on a splint-like platform. When the U.S. women received their medals for winning a record seventh consecutive title, Roberson got some assistance from Simone Biles and Laurent Landi, and also hopped on one foot.

What time will it be in Antwerp, Belgium when the event finals start?

Antwerp is six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, so the event finals begin there at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Simone Biles vault at gymnastics world championship prioritized safety

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