Simone Biles Makes Epic Return To World Championship
Simone Biles has had an epic run so far during the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and the gymnast isn’t done yet.
The US is looking to win its seventh consecutive world title as Biles is set to participate in the women’s team final. Biles made history on the opening day of the championship in Antwerp, Belgium after finishing first in the women’s all-around qualification.
Biles also became the first woman to land the Yurchenko double pike vault at an international competition. The double pike vault is known as a highly difficult skill that has historically only been done by men.
This championship also marks Biles first competition back on a world stage since the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, when she left the competition after suffering from the “twisties,” which is a mental block condition gymnasts experience when they lose track of their positioning in midair.
Since then, however, Biles has shown the world why she’s one of the most prolific and expert gymnasts of our time. She won a record eighth national all-around title, and by competing in Antwerp she became the first woman to represent the US at six artistic world championships.
Skye Blakey, Shilese Jones, Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong are the US teammates joining Biles at the team final on Wednesday. The world championship began on September 30th and will be running until October 8th.
The US’s five-woman team will be competing in the final of the team event on Wednesday, while Biles will also be competing in the women’s individual all-around final on Friday. She will also be competing in the women’s vault and uneven bars finals on October 7th, and the balance beam, and floor exercise finals on the 8th.
To watch the competition in the US, viewers can tune into NBC while UK viewers can watch the finals on the BBC.
Some countries can also watch the competition on All Gymnastics TV, the International Gymnastics Federation’s streaming hub, according to reports.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
