A decade later, and after being terminated, Simone Biles cemented her status as the greatest gymnast of all time by achieving a record eight national championships in the United States.
His victory came this weekend in San Jose, California, ten years after he first climbed to the top. At 26, she is the oldest gymnast to win a US national title since the women’s competition was organized. She posted a total score of 118.40, four points ahead of her chaser, Shilese Jones. Junior Leanne Wong took third place and earned a place to be part of the national team that will compete for the world title in the next World Cup.
Biles’ demonstration leaves no doubt that he is back in the elite. He was blank for two years, after his failure at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, due to his “mental block”, played in 2021 due to the pandemic. He didn’t even return to competition until earlier this month, when he returned in a big way, with runaway success.
Her eight national crowns put her ahead of Alfred Jochim, who won seven between 1925-33, a time when only men competed. “I don’t think about the numbers, I think about my exercises and, above all, I’ve won eight out of eight, I think it’s a lucky number this year,” Biles said after his new success.
Most gymnasts, at their age, just aspire to keep up. But Biles continues to break boundaries. “I want to continue pursuing the goals that I can achieve. This year I’m doing things a little differently than I’ve done in the past, I think it’s working and I’ll keep it under wraps,” he stated.
Her next goal is in Antwerp (Belgium) where the artistic gymnastics world championships will be held at the end of September. In that appointment she will try to increase the number of 25 medals obtained, of which 18 are gold, in an unparalleled career.
Despite his discretion, and perhaps awaiting the result of those World Cups to reveal unknowns, all the experts are now betting that Biles has the 2024 Paris Olympics on his horizon. He already has seven medals, four of which They belong to another and it does not seem that a limit has been set.
