18 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED | AUGUST 26–SEPTEMBER 2, 2019
WE ASKED A PHYSICIST TO
BREAK DOWN THE JAW-DROPPING
TRIPLE-DOUBLE—THAT’S THREE
TWISTS, TWO FLIPS—S I MO N E
BILES LANDED AT NATIONALS
FLIPPING
OUT
HE SIMPLE answer is, No, Simone Biles does not defy
the laws of physics, even if slow motion replays of her
newest skill might make it look that way. She may,
however, be approaching the limits of human performance.
Analyzing the video of Biles’s incredible tumbling pass,
David Young, a professor of physics at LSU, roughly calculated
what it might take for the gymnast to go a step further.
Given Biles’s hang time is approximately 1.3 seconds, to fit
in a theoretical third flip (and make it a triple-triple), Young
estimates her launch speed would need to reach 22.6 mph;
that’s 8 mph faster than her estimated speed on this pass. IfBiles wanted to add a twist instead, to make it a quad-double
tuck, she would need to be in the air about .43 seconds longer,
which would equate to a launch speed of 20.1 mph. (And even
then, she’d need to slow her rotation rate to land on her feet.)
As a point of reference, Florence Griffith-Joyner’s top speed
when she set the world record in the 100-meter sprint was
about 24 mph, and it took her 50 meters to get there. The
diagonal length of the floor exercise mat is less than 56 feet.
So unless Biles can find a way to flip or twist more quickly, or
gather more speed within the confines of the mat, her triple-
double just might represent tumbling’s peak. ±T
THE OHIO STATE
A TRADEMARK
APPLICATION FOR
THE WORD “THE.”
“I THOUGHT ALL ALONG I WAS ∑ BILL WALTON,^
A TREMBLING AND EXPLODING
RAINBOW, MORPHING INTO
A BUS STOP. I GUESS I’M
MYSELF ONE MORE TIME.”
SI
G
N
O
F^
TH
E^
AP
O
CA
LY
P
SE
“THE”
SCORECARD
JAM
IE (^) S
QU
IRE
/GE
TTY
(^) IM
AGE
S (^) (B
ILE
S);
(^) ET
HAN
(^) MI
LLE
R/G
ETT
Y (^) IM
AGE
S
(W
ALT
ON
); (^) A
DAM
(^) LA
CY/
ICO
N (^) S
PO
RTS
WIR
E/G
ETT
Y (^) IM
AG
ES
(MA
SCO
T)
GO FIGURE
AVER AGE
IMPACT FORCE
382 lbs.L AUNCH
ANGLE
71°
MA XIMUM
HEIGHT
ABOVE FLOOR
9.5 feet
ILLUSTRATION BY MARTIN LAKSMAN
LAUNCH SPEED
14.7 mph
HORIZONTAL DISTANCE COVERED
WHILE IN THE AIR
6.5 feet