2023-10-07 10:48:14
The 26-year-old Texan won the 21st world title of her career on Friday October 6 in Antwerp. In 2021, she stopped competing to take care of her mental health, lifting a taboo in very high-level sport.
“It means a lot to me, seeing how I fought to come back.” Two years ago, Simone Biles left the Ariake gymnastics center in the middle of the Tokyo Olympics. The world was learning the word “twisties,” those dangerous losses of bearing in space that expose gymnasiums to injury when they land after a trick. Away from all competition to take care of her mental health, the American has been making a meteoric comeback since the end of August, less than a year before the Paris Games.
After her coronation at the American championship, the quadruple Olympic champion won the 21st world title of her career on Friday October 6 in Antwerp by dominating the all-around two days after winning team gold. A victory in the form of a wink in history since it was in Antwerp that she won her first world championship, in 2013. At 26, Simone Biles is now the most successful gymnast in history of this sport.
In a sea of glitter, she once again produced an all-around competition worthy of her standards, obtaining the best score on three of the four apparatuses. Only the uneven bars, the apparatus that was the least successful for him, escaped him.
Friday evening in Belgium was the 27th time in her career that the American stood on a world podium. Not jaded though since she climbed to the top step with moist eyes. “Actually, I had something in my eye that I couldn’t get out, I swear it’s true,” explained the 1.42m Texan twig with a burst of laughter, another brand.
His return to the top is punctuated with exploits. During the American championships and during the qualifications for the world championships in Antwerp, Simone Biles became the first woman to successfully complete a Yurchenko double pike on vault in competition. Figure which will now bear his name as is customary in gymnastics.
For the record and nice full circle, Simone Biles has mastered this figure for a long time and she had planned to perform it in competition in Tokyo. Before leaving Japan in full doubt after ten years of flying over the world competition.
«Black girl magic»
Already considered the “GOAT” (“Greatest of all time”) at the dawn of the 2021 Summer Olympics, Simone Biles had chosen transparency in the face of her problems, shining the spotlight on the mental health in high-level sport, all disciplines combined.
She stayed away from the high level for two years. Without remaining inactive, testifying at the trial of Larry Nassar, the coach of the American women’s team accused and then convicted of hundreds of sexual assaults. “You represent the best of America,” Joe Biden told him when presenting him with the Medal of Freedom, the highest American distinction, in July 2022.
On Friday, an involuntary figure came close to tarnishing his path. She tripped on the mat at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, an extremely rare event when the four-time Olympic champion literally tripped her feet on the mat on a jump that seemed innocuous towards the end of her floor program. The incident, accompanied by “ooohs” and “aaahs” from the public, seemed to make the American smile and had no consequences in the ranking.
“I tripped… I’m actually quite clumsy in life outside of the gym so it doesn’t surprise me that much that this happened. I felt like my legs were heavy and I couldn’t carry them,” explained the American as she got off the mat.
The Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, title holder, and another American, Shilese Jones complete the podium, entirely made up of black gymnasts. “We had a 100% black podium, I found it incredible: Black girl magic! I hope it shows little girls that anything is possible if you decide and train hard,” smiled the Texan.
On the French side, Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos finished tenth, penalized by a fall on the uneven bars, two days after winning the team bronze medal. The other Habs entered in the final, Morgane Osyssek, took 14th place.
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