Simone Biles doing a flawless handstand is not news. The 23-year-old is the most decorated U.S. women’s gymnast ever, with at least 30 World/Olympic medals, according to USA Gymnastics. But Simone Biles doing that flawless handstand while removing her sweatpants with her feet is a new level of excellence.
On Saturday, Biles added a layer to the viral quarantine handstand challenge by posting a Twitter video of her completing this physical marvel with the caption “handstand challenge” along with a shrugging emoji. Obviously, a parade of comments flooded in, including one from (surprise) Chrissy Teigen who joked that she normally has to have someone remove her pants for her, and Ryan Reynolds who just replied “no.”
The handstand challenge is one of many social media activities designed to keep us busy during the coronavirus quarantine, and most people—including Spider-Man actor Tom Holland and co-star Jake Gyllenhaal—needed the help of a wall to stay vertical. Instead of removing sweats, they attempted to put on a shirt (aka, amateur hour.)
As CBS Sports points out, it’s hard to pin down what the more impressive part of Biles’ athletic feat is: perfectly holding the unsupported handstand, or having the flexibility to fully get her sweatpants off.
Biles——whose handstand lasted almost a minute—isn’t the only athlete to step up to the challenge. Olympian hurdler and bobsledder Lolo Jones posted a video to Twitter showing her putting on two shirts while doing the handstand—and gulping wine beforehand. Jones also echoed the sentiments of many others in quarantine, saying “First I want to thank [Holland and Gyllenhaal] for having their shirt off because I haven’t seen a man in 25 days.”
Gymnast Katelyn Ohashi nailed the shirt challenge and also removed her pants while in the handstand position last week.
Biles regularly has been posting videos that show her incredible commitment to physical training while quarantined, but it’s not clear if they’re leading up to an appearance at the Olympics, which were postponed to 2021 due to Coronavirus.
“I haven’t decided not to do it, but I haven’t really decided to do it,” [she told the Wall Street Journal] (https://www.wsj.com/articles/simone-biles-will-push-on-to-2021probably-11585738819) earlier this month.
