A front handspring entry, followed by a double front somersault off the table, for a total of three front flips in less than three seconds. That much. Yet, so demanding the vault is that more than two decades after it was first performed in 1999, only four women gymnasts have ever tried it on an international platform. And no, Simone Biles is not one of them. In fact, she had straight away refused to do that.

Yes, you heard that right. When Reeves Wiedeman of the New Yorker had asked Simone during the 2016 Rio Olympics whether she would ever attempt the vault, dubbed ‘vault of death’, her clean answer was “I’m not trying to die.” Ironically, in the same Olympics, two women, Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan and Dipa Karmakar of India landed the dreaded move: the Produnova. So when an X user posted a video of Yelena Produnova doing this crazy vault at the 1999 Summer Universiade in Palma de Mallorca (ESP), it quickly started getting traction.

The user wrote, “It’s been 25 years. A quarter-century. I’m starting to wonder if we’ll ever see another double front vault done as well as Produnova’s from the ‘99 Universiade.” Having five moves named after her, naturally, Simone’s name was dragged into the conversation. After all, she also has her Biles II aka the Yurchenko double pike (YDP), made up of a Yurchenko (round-off onto the springboard, then a back handspring onto the vault) double (two flips in the air) pike (straight legs, folded body). And that is no less scary.

It is the second flip that contributes to the difficulty of the vault. The difference in difficulty between a Yurchenko pike, which includes just one flip, and a Yurchenko double pike is enormous. And a double-flipping Yurchenko actually features 2½ flips, because a gymnast launches off the table with her hands. Completing those rotations requires immense power. Not fully finishing the second flip would be dangerous, because a gymnast could land on her head.

Let’s not forget that Simone is the first woman to land the YDP at the World Championships, and she even won Olympic gold with it, scoring 15.300, way ahead of everyone else. But, despite pulling this one off, why Simone might have chosen to stay away from the Produnova? A look at the difficulty scores might have the answer.

YDP comes with a 6.4 difficulty score, the highest in women’s gymnastics. But when Produnova was first performed, it was assigned a monumental difficulty score of 7.1. Lured by it, Dominican gymnast, Yamilet Pena landed the vault at the 2011 Worlds, becoming the first woman after Produnova herself to perform it.

The vault’s extremely high difficulty value generally assured that the gymnast who tried the Produnova, even if she did not quite land it on her feet, was more likely to receive a higher score than she would for doing a less difficult vault far more perfectly. But a fault can be fatal. Egyptian gymnast Fadwa Mahmoud, another woman gymnast who attempted the Produnova in 2014, had nearly landed on her neck.

Considering these risks associated with it, Produnova’s difficulty rating has been cut by the Women’s Technical Committee to kind of discourage playing with it. So down from 7.1, today the Produnova gives a gymnast 6.4 points, worth it only for those who have perfected it. Understandably, this takes the lure away. But imagine the work that had once gone into developing the skill. Hear from Produnova herself.

“The preparation was long: seven or eight years. We didn’t hurry things. Of course there was some fear – fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Overcoming the fear is always a step forward. And I managed to deal with this. It’s my character,” Produnova had said. So, after nearly perfectly performing the vault in Palma de Mallorca, Produnova, did not hide her emotions. “I finally did it – and did it perfectly!” she thought. “I was so proud of myself.” Interestingly, Produnova awaits the day when more gymnasts will perform her skill perfectly.

“I anticipate with joy for someone to repeat my vault, and especially with the execution I did it. I do understand that to do such a vault at a world competition, a lot of work must be done by a gymnast together with her coach – and I believe they will succeed,” she was quoted as saying in 2020. Still, when that video hit the internet, fans jumped into a debate about whether the risk was worth it. Some think it’s a move that should still be pushed, while others totally get why Simone isn’t messing with it.

Fans say Simone Biles could do it but should she?

One fan pointed out, “When Simone was asked about it didn’t she say she didn’t want to die? Will require a truly fearless queen.” And yeah, Simone is totally fearless, she’s already done the Yurchenko double pike. She’s the only woman to pull off a double pike in competition, which is a huge deal since it involves two somersaults with her body in a piked position. That’s next-level stuff right there.

The Yurchenko double pike is no joke. It’s one of the hardest moves because there’s no backup plan. If you mess it up or are off in the air even a little bit, it could end terribly, landing on your neck or head. And it’s not just vaults like this that show how insane Biles is. Think about her triple-double: it took 15 years for anyone to pull off a move like that after the first male gymnast did the triple-twisting double somersault on the floor.

Another fan added, “Only if Biles does it, well, Biles can do the Dragulescu too.“At 27, Simone continues to push boundaries, like when she performed the YDP move at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But despite her history of pushing limits, she’s decided to say goodbye to her signature moves. In a post on Instagram, she humorously laid her Yurchenko double pike to rest, writing, “Rest in peace Yurchenko double pike 🫶🏾,” while posing in a white tracksuit surrounded by funeral flowers. The Biles II earned her three golds in Paris, but the “Vault of Death”? That’s definitely not on her to-do list. And Dragulescu vault? Big no!

The front handspring double front half-out is called the Dragulescu, after Romanian gymnast Marius Dragulescu, who first performed it in 1999. Rated at a 5.6 difficulty, the Dragulescu is still one of the most difficult vaults in men’s gymnastics, and no woman has ever attempted it in competition. In the 2004 Olympics, Dragulescu earned a 9.900 for sticking the vault, a feat that’s still remembered today.

Another fan added, “This deserves a higher value than the YDP. I am sorry but there is a reason why Simone hasn’t attempted this.” And that’s true- this move is a beast. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, two gymnasts, Oksana Chusovitina and Dipa Karmakar took on the “Vault of Death” to challenge Simone Biles for the gold.

Chusovitina, at that time, was 41, while Karmakar made history as the first Indian gymnast to reach an Olympic final. Despite their bravery, neither nailed the move perfectly, Chusovitina’s landing was risky and Karmakar had a small stumble that cost her a shot at the podium. Yet neither Chusovitina nor Karmakar was fully successful in executing that move. Chusovitina’s landing was far more dangerous and yet, somehow she was able to roll back up and tumble in a much more elegant fashion. Karmakar, whose coach said, “It is a risk that we have to take,” landed on her feet but had a little scoot that might have denied her the bronze.

Another fan added, “I’m sorry but this is more difficult than YDP 🫣 DON’T HATE ME,” while another chimed in, “I really think simone can pull this off but im glad she didnt cuz it might also make a bunch of gymnast compete this even though they cant totally do it😬.”And, you know what, they both are right. The Produnova is of that sort of move which is just on the other level in terms of challenge and danger. The good thing is that Simone has the ability and courage to do that, but she knows it is deadly. It is probably for the best that she has stayed away from it, maintaining a strict schedule of the moves that she can confidently perform and setting new records while doing so.