Simone Biles crowned all-around world champion for a record sixth time

In the two years since Simone Biles returned home from the Olympics mentally and physically drained, it has taken everything she has to get back on top. To heal, she first had to withdraw from her sport, spending many hours in therapy. Since her return, she has thrown herself back into it like never before.

It is a result of that hard work, dedication and mental strength, as well as her unparalleled talent, that Biles is officially the best gymnast in the world once again. On Friday, Biles won a record-breaking sixth world all-around title at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp with a score of 58.399.

“It was emotional and it means everything,” Biles said afterwards. “The fight, everything I did to get back to this place, I feel comfortable and confident enough to compete. It was a lot.”

Even though Biles towered over her rivals, the quality of her closest competitors was still incredibly high. In a brilliant battle for silver and bronze that came down to a dramatic final floor rotation, Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, last year’s champion, won silver by scoring 56.766. Biles’ teammate Shilese Jones took bronze with a 56.332. Biles now has 33 world and Olympic medals, more than any gymnast, male or female, in the history of the sport.

However, the evening started with a huge disappointment. Shortly before the gymnasts entered the arena, British Gymnastics announced that Jessica Gadirova had withdrawn from the competition “as a precaution.” Gadirova had qualified for the final in third place and was one of the top medal candidates.

Despite being called up at short notice, Alice Kinsella performed well, passing all four routines and finishing in seventh place. After a solid day of his own, Ondine Achampong finished 13th.

In a show of her peerless excellence, Biles chose to perform her Cheng jump over the much riskier Yurchenko double pike, but she did it so well that it scored almost as high as the considerably more difficult jump. Biles kept her Cheng vault cold and earned a huge score of 15.1. Besides Biles, Andrade is one of the best performing Chen ever, but after the first rotation she was already 0.4 points behind the American.

Biles continued her rock-solid form throughout, easily navigating a safe uneven bars routine and achieving another strong score of 14.333, the sixth highest score on apparatus in the final, despite this being her weakest score. She then worked through another smooth and confident balance beam routine. On the final rotation, nothing short of a floor exercise catastrophe could have kept Biles from winning.

The real intrigue was right behind her when Andrade stepped to the ground out of bounds but did just enough to stop Jones, who made an incredible save, stumbled on a tumbling pass and somehow completed it. As Andrade and Jones collected their medals, their collective success marked the first time three Black women topped the world podium.

“I thought that was great,” Biles said. “Black girl magic. Hopefully it teaches all young girls that you can do anything you put your mind to.”

With all the participants watching, Biles, as usual, stepped onto the floor to perform the final routine of the evening. Although she completed four brilliant tumbling passes, it wasn’t perfect. Biles comically stumbled while trying to make a jump, which she later blamed on her general clumsiness. That’s her dominance, it didn’t matter. She laughed off the mistake in the middle of her routine and her floor score of 14.533 was still the highest of the night as it sealed her gold medal.

Afterwards, Biles said Wednesday’s team final had brought back memories of her withdrawal from the Olympic team final in Tokyo. After leading the United States to gold in this year’s team finals, Biles said she had a session with her therapist.

“I was so much more nervous about the team finals just because that’s when everything was happening (in Tokyo), so I was a little traumatized by that,” she said. “So today I felt a little more relaxed.”

Coupled with her excellence and mental strength, this return is a triumph of Biles’ longevity. Few can mentally and physically endure ten years of elite gymnastics while competing at such a high level the entire time. For so many gymnasts who are willing to put themselves through so much struggle, their bodies often determine the length of their career for them.

But despite the difficulty of Biles’ gymnastics and the way she has continually pushed her sport forward, the 26-year-old has taken incredible care of her body, maintaining her passion for the sport despite so many life-changing challenges and, ten years after her first triumph she remains untouchable.