A technique employed by teenager Kenzo Shirai in his world championship effort in the floor exercise earlier this month has been recognized by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) as the "Shirai 2," it was learned Thursday.
The move, a forward somersault with a triple twist layout and a difficulty level of F, is the third technique to bear the name of the 17-year-old high school student who became Japan's youngest world or Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast.
At the world championships in Antwerp, Belgium, Shirai became the first to successfully achieve a backward somersault with a quadruple twist layout, a move recognized by the FIG as the "Shirai."