Simone Biles, Rebeca Andrade, Lieke Wievers, and Naomi Visser will debut new skills at the Olympics this week – Catch the gymnasts repping the Philippines on Blind Landing

And what a Saturday it is! Olympic qualifications begin today for the men, with the women’s qualifications beginning tomorrow at zero dark thirty 3:30 a.m. EDT/12:30 a.m. PDT (that’s 9:30 a.m. Paris time). 

Simone Biles submitted a new skill to be named for her at the Olympics (if she competes it successfully, of course). This will be her sixth (!) named skill and first bars (!) skill. It’s a variation on the Weiler half, which she has competed at the beginning of her for years: a clear hip circle with one-and-a-half rotations around the bar ending in handstand. 

The FIG posted about it on their website and their Instagram, which I think shows what a big, exciting deal this is. 

The FIG also posted about two other new elements proposed by three gymnasts: the triple-twisting Yurchenko vault, submitted by Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, and the triple L-turn on floor, submitted by Dutch gymnasts Lieke Wievers and Naomi Visser. As pointed out by some coworkers at College Gym News, the depiction of the latter in the cartoon by the FIG makes it just how clear how difficult it is, since the figure in the drawing also can’t keep her leg at 90 degrees. But, I digress.

This was already going to be an exciting Olympics, of course. It’s the American redemption tour and it’s the first summer Olympics in eight years with a full audience. The battle for team and all-around bronze medals appears wide-open, even if the U.S. and Brazil appear to have gold and silver under control. 

But new elements are always exciting, and these are some particularly daring and tricky ones. We’ll be holding our breath over here. 

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Other gym news

The Balance Beam Situation is back, just in time for Paris! Spencer has the links and schedule for all the gymnastics, as well as a liveblog of podium training! 

The Gymternet has a comprehensive guide to watching gymnastics at the Olympics, including who is competing, when they compete, and how to watch them compete. There’s even a link to a page listing all foreign rights holders to the Games who will broadcast them, so you can watch wherever you are in the world.  

Shameless plug: I wrote a quiz to test your knowledge of NCAA athletes competing in Paris, and also composed a rundown of the top 10 Olympic routines competed by NCAA athletes over at College Gym News. CGN also has this week a story on who among the many ॔NCAAers in Paris could make a final, as well as their own guide to viewing the Olympic gymnastics competition. And there’s a great roundtable discussion about the Olympics too!

Speaking of NCAA stars competing at the Olympics, Lynnzee Brown was a flagbearer for Haiti at the opening ceremonies last night.

Zsófia Kovács of Hungary was injured in Olympic podium training and has been replaced on the official start list by Zója Székely. 

Levi Jung-Ruivivar, who is competing in Paris for the Philippines, went into anaphylactic shock in the Olympic Village and required an EpiPen and an ER visit. She says she’s ok, but tired. Best wishes Levi!

Here’s Simone Biles casually sticking the Yurchenko double pike in podium training. 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NaCUJKybakY&si=Md47su6QjicpIBiT

Laurie Hernandez watches a video of herself at the Rio Olympics. 

Hernandez also got adorably punk’d by Samantha Peszek: 

Five at The IX: Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo, and Levi Jung-Ruivivar on Blind Landing

I’ve been sounding the bell a lot on Blind Landing lately, and that’s because it’s just that good. Listen to this episode with American NCAA athletes Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo, and Levi Jung-Ruivivar, all three of whom will compete in Paris for the Philippines – the first gymnasts to rep the Philippines at the Olympics in 60 years! 

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