There’s a kind of storybook magic to Simone Biles and the vault. It’s more than just a piece of apparatus for her — it’s a stage, a proving ground, a symbol of her rise, fall, and ultimate redemption. Now we are sure you might have your doubts. So let’s just take a flashback to eight months back to the Paris 2024 Olympics. The crowd was electric, and history was waiting to be rewritten. As for Biles, she already had both her hands full with 2 golds. But she still walked upon the floor once more. One last shot at glory. And the event? The vault. It was poetic, to say the least. After all, it was the same stage where she shone the brightest. And now it was to be the final destination of her Redemption Tour.

In that final, Simone not only defeated the defending Olympic champion, Rebeca Andrade, but also left the world holding its breath as she warmed up her signature move: the Yurchenko double pike. A vault so difficult it carries a 6.4 D-score — nearly a full point above any other vault being performed. Few dare to attempt it. Fewer still can land it. Simone? She made it look like poetry in motion. But for all the dominance, all the defiance of gravity we see today, there’s another vault story — a much humbler beginning. And it comes from someone who knows Simone like few others: Aimee Boorman, the coach who first saw her sparkle at just 8 years old.

Back then, there were no headlines. No medals. No jaw-dropping Yurchenkos. Just a girl with spring-loaded legs, a megawatt smile, and the kind of fire that couldn’t be taught. Well, in her memoir The Balance: My Years Coaching Simone Biles, Boorman shares a little-known moment — one that seems almost impossible to imagine now. It was Simone’s second meet ever. She was still learning how to control her incredible energy, both physical and emotional.

But as the former coach wrote, “She [Simone] was joking around a little bit before she saluted, and on her first run she sprinted down the runway but tried to stop herself at the last second, threw her hands in front of her body, belly slid on the vault, but didn’t actually go over the vault table. Zero.” Yes — Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, once got a zero on vault. But wait, there was another one coming her way. 

That first zero from the judges might’ve lit a fire in Simone — a kind of determination to make up for it right away. So, on her next attempt, she went all in. She sprinted, slammed the springboard like she was launching herself into orbit, and soared way over the vault… without actually touching it. The effort was massive. The result? Another zero.

Yes, two back-to-back zeros on the vault. Hard to believe now, right? Especially considering Simone Biles has a vault named after her — The Biles II — one of the most difficult ever attempted, a Yurchenko-style move that’s become iconic. It sounds impossible. But that’s the story. Before Simone Biles was redefining gravity, she was figuring out how to fall. And then rise.

Simone Biles and the desperation to achieve perfection 

Aimee Boorman didn’t see failure in those early days. What she saw in young Simone Biles was something far more powerful — a spark. A raw, untamed force wrapped in energy and curiosity. She saw a little girl who belly-flopped on the vault and laughed but who also got up and tried again, not just with more effort but with more purpose. That spark? It never went out.

Years later, it blazed on the biggest stages in the world. And just last year, the fire burned brighter than ever. In May 2024, Simone’s then-coach, Cecile Landi, gave fans a peek behind the curtain in the All Things Gymnastics podcast. She spoke about Simone’s preparation for Paris — and particularly her work on the daunting Yurchenko double pike. “Right now she’s doing more of the double pike,” Cecile said. “I think she just wants to do it without Laurent standing on her by the side. She’s ready for it.” And she was.

A week later, at the Core Hydration Classic, Simone stepped onto the vault runway, and history felt like it was holding its breath. No Laurent Landi by the side of the podium. No coach spotted her. Just Simone, her skill, and her unshakable will. Meanwhile, she launched into the air, twisted, piked, and stuck a landing that sent shockwaves through the gymnastics world. The scoreboard lit up with a 15.600. That wasn’t just a number. It was a statement.

This was Simone’s vault, her moment, her message: ‘I’m still here. I’ve still got it. And I don’t need a hand to hold anymore.’ So, from belly-sliding past the vault table to commanding it with world-defying skill, Simone’s journey is etched not only in medals but in moments like these. It wasn’t just talent. It was grit. Growth. Determination.