PA ImagesSimone Biles has just become the first woman to win a sixth US senior all-round gymnastics title in nearly 70 years, proving no dream is too big.
The Olympian marked the occasion by also becoming the first woman to successfully land a triple-twisting, double back manoeuvre during her floor routine – a feat she failed to land on Friday.
Biles started off her weekend at the 2019 US Gymnastics Championships in Kansas City, Missouri, by becoming the first gymnast ever to land a double twisting, double somersault dismount off the balance beam, breaking records left, right and centre.
Watch the impressive feat here:
She finished the weekend on top with a hugely impressive score of 118.500, beating rivals Sunisa Lee and Grace McCallum’s respective scores of 113.550 and 111.850.
Biles was comfortably in the lead heading into the final day of the competition, meaning she could’ve easily taken the maneuver out of her routine to avoid any point deductions.
Her coach, Laurent Landi, left it up to the 22-year-old to decide whether she felt comfortable with the move after Friday’s attempt left her a little short.
PA ImagesBut, Biles gave everything at the end of her first tumbling pass, presumably fuelled by adrenaline, ambition and unbelievable skill as she successfully landed the triple-double.
Proving she’s ever the perfectionist, Biles said after her unbelievable performance, as reported by MailOnline:
It wasn’t as good as in some of the trainings.
But I’m just happy that I landed it because after night one, my confidence got shot down. So I was really worried about it going into today and that was all I could worry about.
USA Gymnastics high performance director Tom Forster added:
It’s like she hit a hole in one and we were all there.
It’s a big deal and we all know it. No one in the world has done it before in the women and actually, she does it better than most of the men who have done it. She should be super excited about that.
Biles’ latest gold medal adds to an already ridiculous medal collection, which is a mark of just how much she has achieved at the tender age of 17.
PA ImagesIn 2013, her first year in senior gymnastics, she won two gold medals at the World Championships in Antwerp in All-Around and Floor Exercise. She also won silver in Vault and bronze in Balance Beam at the same tournament.
In 2014, she doubled her gold medal count at the World Championships in Nanning, coming in 1st at Team, All-Around, Balance Beam and Floor Exercise. She again won silver at Vault.
At the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Biles won the same four gold medals again but finished third on the podium winning ‘just’ a bronze for Vault.
PA ImagesIn 2016, Biles took the Rio Olympics by storm, winning gold in Team, All-Around, Vault and Floor Exercise. Her only medal that wasn’t gold was a bronze in the Balance Beam. She also claimed gold at the Pacific Rim Championships in Team and All-Around.
After taking 2017 off, and who would blame her after her first few years in senior gymnastics, Biles returned to the World Championships in Doha to reclaim gold in Team, All-Around, Vault and Floor Exercise. She added a silver in Uneven Bars and a bronze in Balance Beam.
She truly is a class act who will go down in history for sure.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.