Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles capped her impressive return after a two-year hiatus this Sunday with gold medals on floor exercise and balance beam. with which she won 23 world titles, less than 10 months before the Olympic Games in Paris.
Biles also won gold in all events and teams with the United States in Antwerpwhere he won his first world titles ten years ago.
The 26-year-old athlete leaves the Flemish port city with five medals – four gold and one silver – which brings her number of medals at world championships to 30. “I have no words,” Biles said about her week in Antwerp. “I was just excited to be able to compete here, with the pressure again. The crowd, the energy, being out there,” she said. “I think from all the experiences we had in this world championship, we learned a lot moving forward.”
In a high-profile beam final, Biles performed every skill to near perfection, with the title decided by a narrow margin as Zhou Yaqin also impressed.
Gold only escaped the Chinese teenager because she took a step back after landing and was penalized with a tenth point.
Biles scored 14,800 points, with 17-year-old Zhou just 0,100 points behind. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who had defeated Biles in the vault final the day before, took bronze.
Barely an hour and a half later, the four-time Olympic champion was back on the competition podium for the floor final.
Despite leaving the area, the American impressed with her jumps and won with a score of 14.633.
Andrade, whose duel with Biles livened up the competition, had another charismatic performance at the Sportpaleis and took silver (14,500), ahead of compatriot Flávia Saraiva (13,966).
Andrade, the revelation of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, also won five medals in Antwerp, including gold. “We had Rebeca on every stage,” Biles said. “So I feel like we’re giving each other the best push we can to bring out the best.”
Source: DN
