Two years after she was forced to withdraw from the Olympic team final and spent the remainder of the night on the sidelines, this time Simone Biles competed right until the end.
Charged with closing out another gold medal after a challenging evening of injuries and uncertainty, Biles showed steely nerves. She marched through a spectacular routine, drawing a standing ovation from the Antwerp crowd as the United States clinched a sixth consecutive team gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with a score of 167.729.
The night, though, was also defined by a pair of historic performances behind the US. Brazil’s injury ravaged generational talents, Rebeca Andrade and Flávia Saraiva, finally took their nation to the podium for the first time as they clinched a historic team silver medal, scoring 165.530.
Likewise, Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos, who recently moved from Paris to Biles’s family gym in Texas with hopes of finally fulfilling her enormous potential, led France to their first ever world bronze medal by scoring 164.064 for bronze. As new nations stepped up, Great Britain were left behind during a tough night in Antwerp as they finished in sixth place.
Despite their victory, the US suffered brutal luck early on. During their warm-up on the first apparatus, Joscelyn Roberson landed awkwardly while attempting her supremely difficult Cheng vault, hurting her left foot and forcing her out of the competition. Despite some errors, the depth in the US team and another dominant performance from Biles drove them to victory.
“This team that we have throughout this year had the most grit, courage and fight, especially after everything that transpired out on the floor,” said Biles.
“You had Jos go down, you had somebody step up to the plate. We had so many different emotions going throughout the day and it wasn’t USA’s best day. It’s crazy, we still pulled it out, so I’m really, really proud of the team.”
Shortly afterwards, Jessica Gadirova fell on her own Cheng. More falls followed for Great Britain on the uneven bars and balance beam as the prospect of a third consecutive medal became increasingly remote.
Instead, Brazil, France, China and Italy battled for the medals until the end, with Brazil finishing as the best of the rest as Andrade clinched silver with an incredible final floor routine and Cheng vault.
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Ten years to the day since her first world medal in the same arena, the night ended as so many of these occasions have during Biles’ reign over the past decade. The last gymnast to compete in the final rotation, all eyes on her, Biles demolished her closing floor routine, earning the highest score of the competition (15.166). As she departed the podium, the Antwerp crowd loudly saluted the return of a legend.
After her first of six finals, Biles’ now holds 33 medals at the Olympic games and world championships, equalling Vitaly Scherbo as the all-time record holder. No woman has won more world team medals than Biles, now a five-time world team champion.
