Simone Biles Dominates Core Hydration Classic in First Meet of Olympic Cycle | Nbc Sports

First event of the season for Simone Biles in the lead-up to Paris, and she will start on balance beam. If you think this routine looks familiar, that's because it's the exact routine that she did last year. Her other routines we're seeing today are different. But our coach Cecile said they didn't want to upgrade or change anything on beam because she's really building that comfortability on this event and the confidence, and they didn't want to mess with that. Triple series, no problem. We talk about rhythm on bars. Rhythm on beam is actually really important as well. And a lot of these athletes have a different style. Simone is really quick twitched. You see how fast she gets to that finish position. I always say the quicker you do the skill, the less time there is to make a mistake. For her to start this competition. She made that face because it wasn't perfect. She had an adjustment, so she broke the first connection, and that's why she's a champion, Terri. Simone Biles has a different standard, okay? Nobody else lives up to that. What a start here at the Core Hydration Classic and the first of many routines we'll see over the next couple of months. And look how small the beam looks. It's only four inches, but it looks even smaller with this angle. And she tumbles on it no problem, just like she's on the floor. And the 2024... Yeah, that look from directly above, it makes me kind of dizzy. I'm glad I didn't see that angle when I was a gymnast, Terry. I can imagine. Ho-hum, just like nothing. These athletes don't want to be 100% now, so I'm glad she left a little something for improvement. Seven Olympic medals, four of them gold, and 30 medals at the World Championships. All right, guess who? On floor next. Get ready to be wowed. As always, I'm going to score for the exercise routine. And you're And you're in for a treat because she's doing a triple-double. That's three twists in the air, two flips. Before she did it, Terry, was at the Olympic Games. There you go. Did go out of bounds, but it's so much difficulty that it almost doesn't matter. I don't care. That was amazing. As the triple-double mount, we talked, Sammy, you and I talked to La'Ron Landy, one of her coaches, and he said she almost has to walk into that so she doesn't go out of bounds. She gets too amped up and runs too hard. She has too much power. She has to hold back to make it properly. That's not right. That's unfair. I'm laughing, John, because who has to try less for a triple-double? Only Simone Biles. And she had some juice on that one. She flew on the landing, but still, you said it, Terry. Who cares? It was unbelievable. Well, it's her first meet back since World Championships last year. The arena is packed. Look at it. She's got so much juice, that adrenaline. Now on the arena, Sky Blakely. We call that a good mistake. Over-rotating and having too much power is a good mistake in gymnastics, especially at this point in the season. You see that 4-inch mat? That's not a deduction. It's just to help her ankles soften the blow of these landings. You know she's 27 years old as well. I mean, you think about not only the competitions, but the days in the gym and what that does take out of your... Well, you know, I'm telling you. Take out of your body over the course of time and yet still able to do stuff like that. We talk about Simone being a trailblazer in so many ways but as a gymnast and somebody that went to the Olympics, her being a trailblazer continuing the sport at 27 is just so impressive to me. I retired when I was 24 and she is just incredible and still getting better. Just about ready. on the podium but they were clapping really loud when she landed that. She practices it by herself in the gym but it's important that she practices the visuals of doing it by herself in the competition. I'm guessing she's putting that one in the bank. Not gonna see it from anybody else here. For anyone else in the world, Terry, that's a round off onto the board, back handspring onto the table, two flips in a pike position, and she still had more power. Check it out. Wow. No one can do it like her. And then some. Look how high she gets. Up next on Pulse, the world champion... She finishes both her flips right about the height of the vault, which is almost unheard of. Yeah, the elevation that she gets is unlike anyone else, whether it's floor or vault, it's something else. Yeah, she actually under-rotated and put her hands down in front of her in the warm-up, and then over-rotated and fell backwards, so third time's a charm. We'll be right back. All right, so there's the number, 15.6. You can't do much better than that. You just can't. The greatest, Simone Biles. Shilese Jones, remember she had the lead after the second rotation. 14.05. And so Simone Biles has flipped it. She is now in the lead here. Well, you talk about... A competition within a competition. Simone is just competing against herself right now. How did you measure that, by the way? I'm calling no. It's top secret, but we did measure it, and it's about 12 feet in the air. How high did you go in basketball? Did you ever get above the air? Yeah, about that high. Did you dunk? Okay, let's move on. Settle down, guys. Simone Biles is on bars, Terry. Thank you. This is the event that she doesn't have as much difficulty but what stands out is that she connects everything and that's what really increases her value on this event. She's very quick on and off getting these skills accomplished and no problem. Added back her double twisting, double back there. So we're starting to see the difficulty across the board for Simone Biles being added into her routines. They wanted to stagger those launches, let's call them, to make sure that she can handle them mentally. And guys, from where I'm sitting, she's having no problem. Well, and we've talked to her so often when she's like, yeah, I really don't like bars. I don't really want to go do that. And that looked pretty good. Pretty good. And not even out of breath. Sometimes when you don't have pressure on an event, it actually makes it easier for you. So all she thinks about most likely is, I just got to get on and hit this routine. And that's what she does. Husband Jonathan Owens watching. There's the reaction. Oh, yeah, standing ovation. Has to be. Well, that's what you want from your husband, right? First person to be standing. Who wouldn't stand for Simone Biles? And the number, how about that number? 14.55 on bars. 6.2 difficulty, you know, we talk about that being, quote-unquote, her worst event. She doesn't have a bad event, okay? But 6.2 difficulty is huge. And to still get an execution score above an 8.0, solid work from Simone. So it is Simone Biles who wins the all-around here. 14.55 the number. Shailise Jones had the lead after the second rotation comes in second. Jordan Childs. Jade Carey, Sky Blakely, the top five as we send it over to Zora with Simone. Congrats, Simone. This is the first of a few meets in the U.S. this summer. What are the main takeaways for you? Yes, for me, I was just happy to be back out there, get through those nerves again, feel that adrenaline. I can't really complain how the first meet back was. What about that bar routine? What'd you think? Yeah, you know, it's just for me, it's just about getting through it, having the confidence and working on cleanliness. So I got through it. Of course, there's things to go home and fix, but I'm not mad about it. She's saying this after a win. It seemed like so much was happening in this one between falls, scratches, injuries. And I want to remind people, like, all these women know each other, right? So how do you continue to focus when all that is going on around you? Yeah, in the sport, a lot of adversity you have to overcome. So it's a very unique sport. But as long as we're there cheering each other on and hoping for the best and having confidence in each other's gymnastics, then it's going to work and we're going to do our best no matter what happens out there on the floor. You're at football games all the time supporting your husband. He's in the gym today. What does he think of gymnastics meets? I think this one was a huge thing for him because he hasn't been in a while. But to hear those girls scream as loud as the fans in the football field, I think is something new. So it's really exciting to be in both atmospheres. Thanks, Simone. See you at U.S. Championship. Of course. Thank you. You too.