The defining moment of Simone Biles’ return to the world stage may have come before she even competed in a final.

The 26-year-old superstar became the first woman to land a Yurchenko double pike vault in international competition during qualifying at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, last weekend, meaning the difficult — and dangerous — skill will be named after her in the sport’s Code of Points. The “Biles II,” as it will be known, is her fifth eponymous skill.

Despite her incredible feats, the 19-time world champion doesn’t have the most eponymous skills in the sport’s history. That title goes to Nellie Kim, a star for the Soviet Union during the 1976 and 1980 Olympics who has seven skills named after her across vault, balance beam and floor.

Here’s what to know about the Yurchenko double pike and Biles’ other signature moves:

What does ‘Yurchenko’ mean?

If you’re thinking, “Wait, isn’t this move already named after someone named Yurchenko?” you wouldn’t be alone. But the Yurchenko family of vaults simply refers to the round-off entry onto the springboard and back handspring onto the vaulting table that Biles does. First performed by Natalia Yurchenko in 1982, it’s the most common type of vault in gymnastics. The variation, where Biles has distinguished this move, comes in how gymnasts fly through the air after propelling themselves off the table.

Biles’ Yurchenko double pike has the highest difficulty score of any variation in the Yurchenko family.

How it’s scored

Ahead of the skill’s debut at worlds, the International Gymnastics Federation assigned a difficulty score of 6.4, four-tenths higher than any other vault. Elite gymnastics no longer uses the “perfect 10” scoring system you might be familiar with (and hasn’t for a long time) — each skill now has a difficulty score that is combined with an execution score (which begins at 10 on every event and decreases as judges take deductions throughout a routine for things like bent knees or flexed feet). The two scores are then added together to produce a gymnast’s final mark.

Biles could earn a maximum 16.4 score for the Yurchenko double pike, but because of its difficulty, she has thus far opted to have one of her coaches nearby as a spotter and take an automatic half-point deduction. Her vault during qualifying earned a 15.266.

Biles’ other signature skills

Floor

The Biles: a double layout with a half twist. Debuted in 2013.

The Biles II: a double tucked backflip with a triple twist. Debuted in 2019.

Balance beam

The Biles: a dismount with a double twist and double tucked backflip. Debuted in 2019.

Vault

The Biles: A Yurchenko half-on with two twists in the laid-out position. Debuted in 2018.

Biles II: A Yurchenko entry with a double flip in the piked position. Debuted in competition in 2021 and performed internationally in 2023.

Biles’ remaining world championships schedule

It’s not totally clear if and when we’ll see Biles do the Biles II on vault again, though.

Laurent Landi, one of Biles’ coaches, said over the weekend that it hadn’t been decided if she will perform the skill during the women’s team competition.

“People I hope realize that maybe that’s one of the last times you’re going to see vault like that in your life from a women’s gymnast,” Landi said, per NBC. “I think it’s time to appreciate that.”

(Photos: Kyle Terada / USA Today)