"I’m just so honored to be able to do this" - Hillary Heron at performing Simone Biles' signature floor routine at World Championships

Panamanian gymnast Hillary Heron recently impressed the world by executing legendary gymnast Simone Biles’ signature floor move at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Biles first performed the move in the 2018 World Championships in Qatar.

On Day 2 of the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Heron performed Biles’ iconic vault move, famously known as Biles I. It involves the gymnast executing a roundoff, followed by a back handspring with half-turn entry, and concluding it with a front stretched somersault with two twists. In 2018, Biles successfully landed the move in the qualification round that got her a 6.4 score.

Moreover, it made Biles’ move the most difficult vault in Women's Artistic Gymnastics next to the Produnova.

At this year’s World Championships, Hillary Heron became the only woman after Simone Biles to perform Biles I. Moreover, she ended with the 11th rank in the vault with a total of 12.916 in the category.

Celebrating her headline-making moment at the World Championships, Heron expressed her feelings to FIG Gymnastics,

"Well, like I grew up watching her, so it’s like mind-blowing and I’m just so honored to be able to do this. Like, I remember seeing her when she created the skill and I was like, oh my God, how is that possible?" she said.

She added,

"When my coach told me, like, okay, we’re gonna try the Biles, I was like what’s he thinking? But like, I actually tried and it went well and it’s actually a very fun skill to try and I’m very honored to be able to do it."

---

How many signature moves does Simone Biles have?

Biles at Day Two - 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships

In the 10 years of her career, Simone Biles has accomplished a total of four signature moves, which bear her name. Let’s take a look:

Floor Move - The Biles

The 26-year-old performed an impeccable floor move in the 2013 World Championships. Termed as ‘The Biles’, the gymnast did a double back layout with a half twist that surprised the world that year.

Floor move - The Biles II

This is Simone Biles’ second signature floor move that involves two flips and three twists in a tucked position. She landed it successfully during the qualifying round of the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

Vault move - The Biles

A roundoff on a springboard with a half turn and two twists, Simone Biles initially performed her unmatchable floor move at the 2018 USA Gymnastics World Team Selection Camp. Later on, she again performed it at that year’s World Championships only to make headlines.

Balance Beam move - The Biles

This was Biles’ double-twisting double backflip move that she first performed at the 2019 US Gymnastics Championships. However, it was added to the Code of Points under her name after she performed the move at the 2019 World Championships.

Vault move - The Biles (2)

Simone Biles will have another vault move to her name after her performance at the qualification Day 1 of the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She performed an unbelievable Yurchenko double pike in the vault.

The gymnast pulled off a roundoff onto the springboard, followed by a back handspring onto the vault and two backflips with straight legs, becoming the first woman to execute a male-dominated move.