Simone Biles has been called the GOAT for quite some time now, and honestly, it’s hard to argue. After all, she’s rewritten the Code of Points with five signature skills—two on floor, two on vault, and one on beam—each more jaw-dropping than the last. These aren’t tricks you learn in a weekend; they’re gravity-defying feats that only Simone herself managed to land on the biggest stages. Each move bears her name and is a testament to her audacity by pulling off something impossible. If you’ve watched her soar, you know what I mean: those split seconds in midair when she seems to defy physics. And now, one of her moves is making headlines again—but not by Simone this time.
Only recently, Paul Juda stepped up, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. On May 19, he casually dropped a video on Instagram, the kind that stops you mid-scroll, and the caption said it all: “That’s why she’s the GOAT .” No fancy edit, just raw gym footage. Turns out, it was from back in 2023, right before he performed the Yurchenko double pike vault at the Core Hydration Classic.
That’s the vault—Simone Biles’ legendary skill that’s only been performed five times in competition by Simone Biles till now. And now we finally get to see how he got there. It wasn’t clean; it wasn’t glamorous, but it was gritty, messy, and real. In his first attempt, Juda launched into the foam pit, which was a total wipeout. No shame in it. Attempt two? He moved to a slightly firmer surface but couldn’t quite get the landing.
Attempt three looked better; he flipped, landed on a mat, but his legs gave out. Fourth try, hard mat: He got so close you could feel the tension, but still, no stick. And then the fifth attempt. The takeoff, the height, the rotation—bam. He stuck it. Controlled. Focused. And that was the vault he went on to land officially at the 2023 Core Hydration Classic and then again at the 2023 World Championships.
But here’s what makes it insane: Simone Biles herself has only performed this vault five times in competition. Once at the 2021 U.S. Classic, again at the Olympic Trials, then at the 2022 World Championships, the 2023 Worlds, and the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she stunned the world with a 15.766 in the all-around final. That’s it. Five. Across four years. Because the vault isn’t just difficult, but it’s terrifying.
So when Juda finally shared that behind-the-scenes grind, it hit differently. This wasn’t just a flex. It was a tribute. A raw, unfiltered look at what it takes to even attempt what Simone Biles has mastered.
Simone Biles’ Vault is scary
While Paul Juda has pulled off the Yurchenko double pike before, most notably at the 2023 World Championships, he hasn’t risked himself much with it. Just last year, before the trials, when he was asked about the move, he said. “For these trials, I knew that I could score very well with a simpler vault simply because of my clean and consistent nature on the vault,” Juda told NBC.
So instead of chasing difficulty, he stuck with a Kas 1.5, clean, sharp, and safe. Why? Because he’s felt the fear. “But yeah, it’s a tough fall. And I can’t say it enough—it really is a bit scary too,” he admitted. “I’ve talked to Simone before. We’ve both said that it’s a bit of a scary vault.” The decision wasn’t just strategic; it was self-preserving as well.
“I actually had to discontinue training the vault after the World Championships to lessen harm to my elbows. It’s very, very grueling … it takes a lot of impact.” But Paul Juda is out there to show that while these maneuvers might be dangerous, given enough hard work, they can indeed be made possible. But to perform them on the grandest stage of them all? That’s perhaps something we should only leave to the one herself, Simone Biles.
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