Simone Biles nominated for BBC's World Sport Star of the Year award - Gymnastics Weekly News
Plus, two-time World all-around medallist Ilia Kovtun underwent surgery and a look back at Spain on the uneven bars at Barcelona 1992
Artistic Gymnastics
Seven-time Olympic gymnastics medallist Simone Biles is among the nominees for the BBC's Sports Personality's World Sport Star of the Year, the British media network announced this week.
Fans can vote for their choice online through 12 December with the winner set to be announced on the 19th. Argentina's World Cup winning superstar footballer Lionel Messi is the 2022 winner.
Biles' nomination comes after the 26-year-old returned to competition for the first time since winning team silver and balance beam bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, held in 2021.
Her 2023 campaign, highlighted by an increased focus on mental health and preparation after a case of the 'twisties' caused her to withdraw from several finals in Tokyo, yielded historic results including an eighth U.S. title and sixth World all-around crown, both records.
“I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to compete again because there were multiple times this year where I was in the gym and I was like, ‘I’m actually terrified of this full-in, like I’m not doing it again, never going to do it,'" Biles told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview recently. "And then I was like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to come back another day, another day.’”
The other nominees in Biles' category are footballers Aitana Bonmati and Erling Haaland, tennis player Novak Djokovic, South Africa rugby captain Siya Kolisi, and Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen.
Reigning World all-around silver medallist Illia Kovtun undergoes surgery
Two-time World all-around medallist and Tokyo 2020 Olympian Illia Kovtun of Ukraine underwent surgery on his right foot, according to a post from his partner Iryna Gorbacheva on Instagram.
The 20-year-old first experienced pain in his foot three months prior to the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships where he helped his team obtain a quota for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. He also earned all-around silver, adding to the bronze medal he took at the 2021 Worlds.
"I underwent an examination and the doctors forbade me to even walk up the stairs," said Kovtun in the post. "They banned walking up the staris, but they didn't ban gymnastics?! We are preparing for the World Championships and fighting specifically for team qualification for the Olympic Games on one leg."
From the vault...
This week, we take a look back at Spain on the uneven bars at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. The squad, which finished fifth overall in the team event, was led by Cristina Fraguas' 9.912 on the event.