What’s next for Simone Biles after dominant return to action?
USA TODAY Sports’ Tom Schad breaks down Simone Biles’ dominant performance at the U.S. Classic and what the future holds for the gymnastics superstar.
SportsPulse, USA TODAY
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Simone Biles is daring to go where no other gymnast – man or woman – has gone.
Biles’ hunt for a record eighth all-around national championship concludes Sunday as she takes the floor at the U.S. gymnastics championships at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. Biles comes in more than 2.5 points ahead of reigning world all-around silver medalist Shilese Jones and the rest of the pack.
Biles won her seventh U.S. championship in June 2021, weeks before the Olympic trials for the Tokyo Games. That victory tied Alfred Jochim, who captured seven all-around titles nearly 100 years ago.
“I’m pretty happy with the overall meet today,” Biles told NBC after Friday’s first night of competition. “My goal for the weekend is just to hit 8-for-8 and then hopefully come in on Sunday and hit a little bit of a smoother beam routine.”
Keep up with live updates on Biles, her U.S. Olympic teammate Suni Lee and the other gymnasts on the final night of competition.
Simone Biles opted not to do the Yurchenko double pike on Day 2 of the U.S. gymnastics championships.
It wasn’t a big surprise, given she had her right ankle taped for vault and didn’t do it during warm-ups. And it didn’t really matter. Biles instead did the Cheng, the second-hardest vault any woman is doing these days, and scored a 14.85.
That’s 0.85 below what Biles scored the other night for the Yurchenko double pike, but it’s higher than what anyone scored on vault on Day 1.
The 2008 Olympic team was honored before the start of the women’s competition Sunday.
The Americans combined for 10 medals in Beijing. The U.S. women – Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Alicia Sacramone, Chellsie Memmel, Sam Peszek and Bridget Sloan – took silver in the team competition, and Liukin and Johnson went 1-2 in the all-around.
Liukin also won silvers on uneven bars and balance beam and a bronze on floor. Johnson won gold on balance beam and a silver on floor exercise.
The U.S. men – Jonathan Horton, Sasha Artemev, Raj Bhavsar, Kevin Tan, Justin Spring and Joey Hagerty – won the bronze medal, the last time they’ve won a medal in the team competition at the Olympics. Horton also won a silver on high bar.
USA Gymnastics announced the men’s team for next year’s world championships and, no surprise, it will be led by new U.S. champion Asher Hong. Joining Hong will be U.S. silver medalist Khoi Young; U.S. bronze medalist Fred Richard; Tokyo Olympian Yul Moldauer; and Paul Juda, last year’s NCAA all-around champion.
The world championships are Sept. 30 to Oct. 8 in Antwerp, Belgium. The U.S. women’s team will be named after a selection camp next month.
In the junior women’s event, Hezly Rivera won her first all-around title while also claiming the top spot on uneven bars and balance beam. Kieryn Finnell was second and Izzy Stassi was third.
The women’s senior competition concludes Sunday night, starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The U.S. gymnastics championships will begin airing on television on NBC and CNBC at 7 p.m. ET, though not all events will be broadcast live. See the broadcast schedule at NBCSports.com.
The U.S. gymnastics championships will be live streamed on NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app and Peacock.
Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee are all competing in San Jose and each joined Biles at the Tokyo Olympics.
The Yurchenko double pike vault Simone Biles did Friday night was close to perfect. Her coach knew it. Fans knew it. The judges knew it, awarding Biles a 9.8, out of 10, for execution.
Yet, when her score posted, it included this: “ND: -0.500.” A deduction? For what?
As it turns out, it wasn’t anything Biles did, exactly. More like what she had. Which was coach Laurent Landi standing on the podium, ready to assist her if something went awry during the vault so difficult Biles is the only woman to ever do it in competition and few men even try.
Simone Biles shouldn’t be punished for giving international gymnastics officials exactly what they wanted.
The four-time Olympic champion continues to push the boundaries of the sport and it appears the International Gymnastics Federation is going to continue to push back, refusing to give the skills she does their rightful value.
