Simone Biles added yet another medal to her ever-growing cabinet, securing the all-around title at the World Championships in Belgium. A decade after winning her first World title in the same city, Biles beat reigning World champion (and Beyoncé fan) Rebeca Andrade by 1.633 points. The medal was Biles' 34th across the World Championships and Olympics, and her 21st gold. The two medals she has now won at the World Championships make her the most decorated gymnast of all time. She had entered the Championships tied with former Belarusian gymnast Vitaly Scherbo.
Furthermore, Biles' time at the Championships is far from done. She is set to compete in four individual events over the weekend - vault, bars, beam, and floor. She is the gold medal favorite in at least three of them. Watching her perform, with only the smallest of errors in her floor routine, you wouldn't think that she had returned to competitive gymnasts three months ago after a two-year hiatus following the Tokyo Olympics. Biles has already confirmed her spot at the Paris Games next year and will now look to push her medal tally to even greater heights.
Andrade, Runner-Up To Biles, Wants To Meet Beyoncé
Rebeca Andrade will have to settle for silver in the all-around at least as she was unable to hold off the resurgence of Simone Biles. However, Andrade captured the hearts of much of the audience as she fought valiantly at this Championship. A Beyoncé superfan, Andrade's floor routine for the Championships was set to "Break My Soul" from RENAISSANCE. Her silver medal performance at Tokyo 2020 featured a floor routine set to "Single Ladies".
“Whoever is able to help Rebeca meet her, it would be very interesting. Rebeca is [a] super Beyoncé fan," her coach Francisco Porath told Olympics.com. RENAISSANCE is a fitting phrase for Andrade, who will compete for Olympic gold next year. Her World Championship in Liverpool last year came after years of ACL tears before the Olympics. Furthermore, her risk of re-injury means that she has had to be incredibly selective about when and where she competes.
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