So how DOES Simone Biles do it? Neuroscientist explains how Team USA star gymnast twists and flips her way to glory

As one of her teammates put it, Simone Biles is 'in a caliber with nobody else in the world'. The 19-year-old star gymnast from Texas is a three-time world champion, and a four-time national champion. 


Leading Team USA's Fierce Five to her first ever Olympic Games, Biles is widely expected to score gold. But medals aside, just the prospect of watching her twist, turn, flip, and leap has got America buzzing. And as millions tune in, there will be more than a few who think: 'How on earth does she do that?' Among them, Dr Thomas M. Jessell, a neuroscientist and co-director of Columbia University's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute. Here, he explains how she does it.