Simone Biles once again shines bright in the city of diamonds, winning sixth world all-around title
ANTWERP, Belgium – Simone Biles won her sixth world all-around title on Friday at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, just two months after making her return to competition following an extended break after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
It’s Biles’ first world all-around title since 2019, with the 26-year-old being undefeated in the all-around at the world championships. It’s also arguably the most impressive of her wins to date – not because she won by an exorbitant margin or threw the most difficult skills (though she did win by 1.633 and did have the most difficult routines), but because of the work she’s done to return to this level after withdrawing from the team final and four (of five) individual finals in Tokyo, due to a case of the now-infamous twisties.
Biles’ all-around win was truly full circle – she won her first world title 10 years ago in the exact same arena at 16.
“I was emotional,” Biles said. “Because 10 years ago, I won my first worlds, and now we’re back here. So it was emotional. It means everything to me – the fight, everything that I’ve put in to get back to this place – [to] feel comfortable and confident enough to compete.”
But if you thought Biles was tearing up during introductions, when the crowd roared for her, or after the meet was over and she was world champion once more, she said it wasn’t actually tears – at least emotional ones.
“You guys are actually never gonna believe me, but I’ve had something in my eye for like four hours today that I could not get out. So whenever I was staring at the podium, if I look up, it really hits my eye,” Biles said. “I swear, ask the girls, all day I’ve had something in my eye. I literally could not get it out. All day I was going like this (rubbing her eye). I was like, ‘I’m gonna get pinkeye because I’ve touched my eyes so many times today.'”
No one could’ve predicted in 2013 that she would go on to become the most decorated gymnast of all time, with 34 total world and Olympic medals, in the same place she put her name on the map all those years ago.
Biles was the only athlete to surpass the 57 (and 58) mark, earning a 58.399 with a 15.100 on vault for her Cheng, a 14.333 on bars despite a missed connection, a 14.433 despite another missed connection (that she made up for after), and a 14.533 on floor despite tripping in a fluke moment right before her final pass.
“I just tripped – clumsy,” Biles said humorously. “I’m actually like that outside of the gym, so I’m not surprised it happened. But before floor I felt like my legs were so heavy, and I couldn’t pick them up. And I actually kicked the floor on my first leap, too – on my tour jette.”
2022 world all-around champion Rebeca Andrade (BRA) was second with a 56.766, and 2022 world all-around silver medalist Shilese Jones (USA) was third with a 56.332.
It’s the first all-Black all-around podium at a world championships in men’s or women’s gymnastics.
Both Andrade and Jones hit their routines as well, but it was always a battle for silver between the two, with Biles having a buffer between her and the rest of the field thanks to her difficulty – and also superb execution, in general, even with minor things here and there.
“I think every day I try to think about it, especially in therapy when we talk about it, and I think that’s when all the emotions come up. And I really think about what I’ve done and what we’ve done to the sport and pushed that forward, so I think it’s really exciting,” Biles said about trying to reflect on what she’s achieved so far. “But all in all, I don’t think it’ll hit me till maybe I retire and then look back and see everything I’ve done, but tonight, I think it was a good start. We had an all-Black podium of girls, so I thought that was amazing – Black girl magic! So hopefully it just teaches all the young girls out there that you can do anything you put your minds to. So keep training hard.”
As it happened
Before the competition even began, there was a shake up among the medal contenders, with Great Britain’s Jessica Gadirova pulling out at the seemingly literal last minute. Her teammate Alice Kinsella, who was originally two-per-countried out of the final, replaced her.
Kinsella finished seventh after having less than five minutes to throw on her leotard for the march out.
“I didn’t actually do anything in the back gym. I just stretched, conditioned, and the first thing I did [gymnastics-wise] was out [in the arena].”
Rotation 1: With the leader group on vault, Kinsella led things off with a double-twisting Yurchenko to earn a 13.766. Shilese Jones (USA) followed with a floaty double-twisting Yurchenko of her own and a small hop to earn a 14.233. Simone Biles opted to compete the Cheng instead of the Yurchenko double pike, but it was exceptional nonetheless, earning a 15.100, including a 9.5 execution score. Ellie Black (CAN) stuck her front handspring full cold. Rebeca Andrade (BRA) does a Cheng as well, but she seems to rush the landing a bit and has to take a little shuffle and step out, earning a 14.700.
Elsewhere, Melanie de Jesus dos Santos (FRA) fell on her Nabieva on bars. Kaylia Nemour (ALG) enthralled the crowd with her incredible bars set that went 15.200 with a 6.9 difficulty score. Qiu Qiyuan (CHN) was also exceptional, displaying outstanding pirouettes and what is widely considered the best laid-out Jaeger in the world to earn a 14.700.
Rotation 2: Jones started things off for the leader group with a big 14.633, opting to go clean with a double front dismount once again instead of the double front half that she’s been training. Biles followed with a hit set as well, earning a 14.333 despite missing a connection. Both Flavia Saraiva (BRA) and Black fell on their routines. The Canadian’s score took approximately 10 minutes as Andrade waited her turn, but she showed no signs of wavering, finishing with a toe full to stuck full-twisting double back to go 14.500.
Elsewhere, both Qiu and Nemour showed good balance beam sets, highlighted by Qiu’s back handspring Arabian, but minor mistakes from both ate into their already small margin for error up against gymnasts with difficult routines across the board.
Rotation 3: Biles started things off on beam, but a minor stumble on her switch leap mount caused her to break her triple connection. She immediately pivoted, adding in another switch leap into the switch half and back pike that she would typically do connected to the mount. The result was a 14.433 with a one-tenth increase to her difficulty score compared to qualifying. Despite likely being out of podium contention by the third, Saraiva was stunning on beam to earn a 14.033. Andrade didn’t put up her best on beam and had a couple balance checks on beam to earn a 13.500 (she went 13.800 in qualifying). Jones anchored with a show-stopping routine that included her signature standing Arabian to earn a 14.066, moving into second ahead Andrade heading to floor.
Rotation 4: Andrade was up first of the three leaders and laid down a beautiful set to earn a 14.066 and guarantee a medal. Jones was next, and needed a 13.835 to go ahead of Andrade. Jones opened with an excellent tucked double-double, but got tripped up on her front full step-out, somehow saving it and still completing the ensuing double back to earn a 13.400 – more than good enough for the bronze. Biles was, fittingly, last up, opening with a full-twisting double layout so high it was practically on the moon. Her front full to tucked double-double was nearly stuck, and the following Biles 1 (double layout half) was also nearly stuck. Shockingly, she got tripped up going into her leap sequence, but needing only a 12.9+, she had more than enough buffer. She closed with a stuck double layout to earn a 14.533 and a 58.399 across four events to win her sixth world all-around title by 1.633 points.
