Simone Biles won a record-extending ninth all-around national title at the US Gymnastics Championships on Sunday, impressing ahead of next month’s Olympics in Paris.
Biles finished with a combined score of 119.750 while Skye Blakely finished 5.900 points back in second and Kayla DiCello came in third. Suni Lee finished in fourth place and Jordan Chiles in fifth.
Biles dominated the event, turning in the top cumulative scores in the four events – balance beam, floor exercise, uneven bars and vault – despite a second day spill in the latter.
“Today it’s just getting out here and getting comfortable and confident in my gymnastics and hopefully going to Olympic trials and making that next step towards Paris,” Biles told the NBC Sports broadcast. “So, I couldn’t be more proud of how I’m doing this time in the year and just gaining that confidence over and over, getting myself back in front of a crowd and just doing what I do in practice.”
The national championships are the final event for US gymnasts before the Olympic Trials in late June. The women’s team to compete at Paris 2024 will be chosen after the Olympic Trials, with the winner of the all-around competition at the Trials automatically making the team.
Biles is aiming to edge closer to returning to the Olympics, the competition where she experienced the “twisties” – a mental block causing gymnasts to lose track of their body positions – at the Tokyo Games.
Biles was asked Sunday whether she is back to having fun with her gymnastics.
“Yeah, everyone says I look like I’m having fun so that’s good because I feel like most of the time if I’m not stressing or having anxiety, I do feel like I’m having fun,” Biles said. “So, it’s good to have that and feel that again.”
She took a two-year break from the sport afterwards to focus on her mental health but returned last year, sealing her comeback with a history-making performance at the world championships.
After winning a silver and four gold medals there, she became the most decorated gymnast ever, surpassing Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo’s record of 33 overall medals across both the Olympics and the world championships.
Dominant from the start
The four-time Olympic gold medalist came into the second day of the senior women’s all-around competition in first place with an astonishing score of 60.450, more than three points ahead of second-placed?Skye Blakely and third-placed Kayla DiCello.
And to underscore her dominance, Biles led the field on every apparatus after the first day. She started on the vault, executing a Yurchenko double pike and then a Cheng to finish with a 15.800.
Even though the uneven bars are considered Biles’ “weakest” event, she scored a 14.650 to extend her lead through two rotations. On her third rotation - the balance beam - Biles continued her stellar performance, finishing with a 14.800.
She finished the night on the floor, scored a 15.200 to solidify her lead, and went into the final day with a great chance to win yet another all-around national title, and further consolidate her status as the most decorated American gymnast ever.
Brody Malone is a multiple national all-around champ, too
Meanwhile, in the men’s competition, Brody Malone took his third national all-around title on Saturday, completing his remarkable comeback from a serious injury last year that required several surgeries to repair torn ligaments and cartilage in his knee, as well as a fractured leg.
“It just feels amazing to be able to - with everything I’ve gone through - be able to come back and make a comeback like I have and be competitive enough to be on the top again,” Malone said afterwards, per the Olympics.
He also took the gold medal on the high bar, the apparatus on which he sustained his horrific knee injury and on which he became world champion in 2022.
Malone finished ahead of Frederick Richard, who also won on floor, and Khoi Young.
CNN’s Steve Almasy contributed to this report.