Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in United States history, won her eighth national title Sunday in San Jose, California, breaking a record set in 1933.
The four-time Olympic champion thrilled the crowd with a final performance on clay that earned her 15,400 points, for a final score of a total of 118,450 points.
This eighth national title in floor gymnastics allowed her to break the record set by Alfred Jochim, which she had won seven times in 1933. At 26, she also became the oldest gymnast to win the national team competition, ten years after the first title.
.@Simone_Biles 8️⃣ this up.
She is the first gymnast in history, male or female, to win 8 US all-around titles!#XfinityChamps pic.twitter.com/vcz2T3b9yN
– Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 28, 2023
Shilese Jones, the runner-up to the United States in 2022, was second, 3.9 points behind.
The American star had been in the lead since the first night of competition on Friday, when Yurchenko performed a double carpe, a vault so difficult no other gymnast has performed it in competition.
Sunday’s victory was his second in as many competitions since he returned from a two-year layoff. The gymnast had withdrawn from most of the 2021 Japan Olympics for safety and mental health reasons.
The gymnast explained that she had lost her orientation in space, something that exposes athletes to the risk of injury when landing.
In San Jose, Biles was the only competitor to finish both days of competition with two scores over 15. Runner-up Shilese Jones posted one on Sunday, 15.0, on the uneven bars.
This performance is one more step towards the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, starting with the World Championships in Antwerp, on September 30.
However, Simone Biles has refused to reveal “personal goals” since her triumphant return on August 5 at the US Classic.
“I like to keep them to myself (…) I think it’s better that way. This year I’m trying to move in a slightly different way than last year. I think it’s working so far,” he said.
When asked if the targets included Paris, he replied that “the time was not right yet.”
Source: TSF
