Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2023: Simone Biles soars to sixth World all-around title, historic 34th medal
achiever. Having won her seventh Olympic medal, this athlete has now broken the record for being the most successful in the sport.
Simone Biles has once again achieved a great victory, winning the gold medal in the women's all-around final on Friday (6 October) at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships located in Antwerp. This marks her sixth global title and her first since 2019.
As soon as Biles walked into the Sportspaleis venue with her bright smile, the crowd started screaming loudly, making it clear that it was going to be her night. She continued to perform impressively, earning a score of 58.399, surpassing the defending champion Rebeca Andrade from Brazil, who scored 56.766.
Shilese Jones, who won the silver medal for all-around at the 2022 World Championship, secured the bronze medal with a score of 56.332.
Biles' latest win adds to her already impressive record. She wore a leotard that was covered in bright blue sequins, which sparkled just as brightly as she does as one of the sport's most prominent figures.
She has become the sole gymnast to win World all-around titles separated by ten years, as she won her first title in the exact same location back in 2013. The former record was held by renowned gymnasts Uchimura Kohei from Japan and Russia's Svetlana Khorkina, whose initial and last titles were only six years apart.
Biles holds the distinction of being the lone woman gymnast who has won six all-around championships, which equals the record held by Uchimura.
Having won a total of 34 medals in both the World and Olympic games, she now holds the record for the most decorated athlete in her sport, surpassing both male and female contenders. This achievement was solidified after her team's victory on Wednesday, which put her in a tie with Vitaly Scherbo, a former Soviet Union, Unified Team, and Belarus competitor.
Simone Biles' Exclusive Interview: Overcoming Doubts And Returning To Competition
The young woman who is 26 years old made a choice to skip performing the bold Yurchenko double pike, which she had recently named as her fifth element. Instead, she opted for a different type of vault called a Cheng, which involves a round off onto the board, half turn onto the vaulting table, followed by a front layout with one-and-a-half twists. She made one of her attempts at this move during the current season. As a result, she achieved a final score of 15.100, with an execution score of 9.500.
Biles scored 14.333 points on the uneven bars despite executing some elements that seemed a bit shaky. However, she managed to stick her full-twisting, double back dismount. Later, she moved to the balance beam with a lead of .233 points over Andrade.
Biles was the initial athlete to perform in the third round. Before her performance, she and her coach Cecile Landi, who was also a former Olympian in 1996, exchanged a pleasant moment of laughter during the warm-up.
During the competition, Biles made a small mistake in her routine when she began with a switch leap mount that was slightly off balance. However, she quickly corrected this by including an extra switch leap and then proceeded to perform amazingly on the narrow, 10 centimetre wide equipment. This fantastic performance earned her a score of 14.433.
When Biles headed towards the floor exercise, she held a significant .934 lead over Jones. She went last in the competition and attained an exceptional score of 14.533, which earned her the prestigious gold medal. This outstanding achievement will forever be remembered as a historic moment in her career.
