Team USA has secured its seventh consecutive World Gymnastics title behind the efforts of Simone Biles and her teammates. Despite a dominant performance in qualifying, the medal event was closer than expected, with the US beating Brazil by 2.199 points in Antwerp. The team gold broke the tie that Team USA had held with the Chinese men's team for consecutive World golds. Meanwhile, that same Chinese men's team had to settle for silver behind Japan.
However, the championships are far from done for Biles and company. Biles is favored to win four individual golds - all-around, vault, beam, and floor. Meanwhile, Shilese Jones has her eyes firmly set on the bars gold. However, beyond medaling and everything else, there is also the motivation of putting in strong performances as selection for Paris 2024 approaches.
Biles Eyeing History At Homecoming Worlds
"Back to where it all started, see you soon Belgium," Biles told her Instagram followers via a story post after qualifying for Worlds. As alluded to by Biles, Antwerp will be something of a homecoming. A decade ago, she made her Worlds debut in the city. She cleaned up in her first-ever event, grabbing gold in the all-around and floor, silver in the vault, and bronze in the beam. Furthermore, qualification meant Biles became the first woman to be selected to represent the US at six World Championships.
Worlds also represents a chance for Biles to secure her place in Paris next year. Olympic places are available on all apparatus, as well as for the all-around champion. Furthermore, Biles is a firm favorite to qualify somewhere as she has shown that her time away has not left any rust on her performance. However, the world of gymnastics has only gotten better in recent years. This means that Biles will likely face some tough competition if she wants to take home the gold in Belgium. After an off day tomorrow, Biles will be in action on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
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