Associated Press3 Minute Read
ANTWERP, Belgium — Simone Biles’ appetite for victory is insatiable.
The American superstar claimed a third, then a fourth gold medal at the 2023 gymnastics world championships Sunday by winning the balance beam and floor finals in a dominant fashion on the final day of the competition.
Biles started the afternoon with a superb beam routine, oozing confidence throughout. She had no hesitation on her jumps and delivered controlled spins before dismounting in style, with just a small hop when landing. She earned a score of 14.800 points to win ahead of China’s Zhou Yaqin by a margin of just 0.1 of a point. Rebeca Andrade of Brazil took the bronze medal.
Biles later took to the mat for her last appearance of a busy week, in the floor final. She had posted the highest score in qualifying and impressed again with a series of spectacular tumbling passes that wowed the crowd, reaching impressive height on her leaps.
Although she stepped out of bounds midway through her highly difficult routine, Biles earned the day’s best score, 14.633 points. It was Biles’ sixth world floor championship, a discipline where she remains undefeated.
Andrade, another star of the sport, took the silver medal ahead of her Brazil teammate Flavia Saraiva.
In Antwerp, where she started her collection of 23 world titles 10 years ago as a 16-year-old, Biles has made a stunning return to the international stage.
She also claimed a silver medal on vault after the sixth all-around title that made her the most decorated gymnast in history, male or female. And she led the U.S. women to a record seventh straight victory in the team event.
Biles has won a record 37 medals at the world championships and Olympics.
She was competing at her first world championships since 2019 this week after a two-year break she used to focus on her mental health following the Tokyo Olympics. Biles returned to competition this summer.
In the men’s competition, Jake Jarman gave Britain its first medal by taking gold in the vault with a combined score of 15.050 points. Jarman started with a nearly flawless vault and was pumped after he landed a Dragulescu on his second effort, giving a big hug to his coach and raising his arms in triumph.
His total allowed him to leapfrog American Khoi Young by a margin of 0.201.
Young’s pair of vaults earned him a runner-up finish and a third medal this week to go with the bronze in the team event and silver on the pommel horse. Nazar Chepurnyi of Ukraine finished third.
Young grinned broadly after sticking his second vault and turned toward fans waving American flags, urging them to make more noise as cheers and applause erupted from the stands at the Sportpaleis venue.
