Simone Biles wows on vault while surging to the lead at the U.S. gymnastics championships

Simone Biles wows on vault while surging to the lead at the U.S. gymnastics championships, Laurent Landi stood on the mat, arms slightly outstretched. He took one small step to his right. Then another.

Above him, above everyone really, Simone Biles soared through the air. Her arms clasped behind her knees. Her legs at a perfect 90-degree angle from her body.

Landi's decision to stand there was one of his conditions if Biles wanted to attempt a Yurchenko Double Pike, a vault so daunting few men have attempted it and no woman has ever completed it in international competition.

On Friday night at the U.S. Championships, all it did was give Landi, Biles' longtime coach, a close-up view of an athlete that somehow at age 26 appears to be as good as ever. Maybe better.