Simone Biles halfway to record eighth title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships

Simone Biles is just four routines away from a record eighth U.S. national all-around title after running away with the opening night of competition Friday (25 August 2023) at the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships in San Jose, California.

The four-time Olympic gold medallist earned a total score of 59.300 to lead the standings at the halfway point of competition. 2022 World all-around silver medallist Shilese Jones (56.550) is second, followed by World team gold medallist Skye Blakey (55.700).

With seven national crowns already secured (2013-16, 2018-19, 2021), Biles, 26, is currently tied with Alfred Jochim, whose seventh title came in 1933.

"I think I just have personal goals that I want to meet and keep pushing for, so that's what I'm aiming for," Biles told U.S. broadcaster NBC afterward.

'still I rise'

On Friday, the five-time World all-around champion donned a dark purple leotard that had “but still I rise” emblazoned in crystals on the back, inspired by a poem written by Maya Angelou.

Members of Biles’ family including her mom and dad, Nellie and Ron, and sister, Adria, sported matching T-shirts from their seats in the crowd.

The phrase parallels all that she's overcome in her return to competition.

Biles' third Olympic cycle comes after making the decision to withdraw from the women's team final and four subsequent individual finals at Tokyo 2020 to priortise her mental health as she dealt with what gymnasts call the twisties, where one's body and mind fall out of sync. She returned in the beam final, where she won bronze, her seventh overall Olympic medal.

Earlier this month, she called her motivation continuing in the sport “obvious" in remarks following her five-point victory at the U.S. Classic.

“You saw what happened pulling out of five finals whenever I know what I’m capable of and knowing what I can do,” she said. “It was a mental injury, you know, so something like that I knew I could with the proper work and the proper help, I knew I could come back and hopefully have a shot.”

Though Biles has yet to declare her intentions regarding next summer’s Paris 2024 Games – insisting she’s taking things one meet a time for now – she has, of course, given herself more than a shot.

On Friday, she began on the perilous balance beam where Biles showed some nerves, undercooking her switch leap mount and losing control momentarily on her triple wolf turn. Despite the minor issues, she earned a 14.450.

In the second rotation, Biles moved to the floor exercise where she showed sky-high tumbling including a full-twisting, double layout and a front full through to double-double to open. She went out of bounds on her third pass, a Biles I (double layout half out) before dismounting with a double layout. She scored 14.800.

Biles’ earned a massive 15.700 on vault, vaulting a nearly perfect Yurchenko double pike. She earned a 9.800 execution score for the effort.

"No, no, it's not normal. She's not normal," said coach Laurent Landi. "She makes it in training good, so she's one of the rare gymnasts that goes to the meet and does it even better under the pressure."

Finishing on the uneven bars, Biles was clean throughout for a 14.350 final score.

"I think she's going to gain even more confidence along the way. So I think it's doing good. She's doing good," said Landi. "We just need to keep looking to make sure we protect her as much as I can, and hopefully, she'll keep being as consistent as she is right now."

Biles' focus is also on her consistency, saying "My goal for the weekend is just to hit 8 for 8 and then hopefully come in on Sunday and hit a little bit of a smoother beam routine."

The second day of women's competition is set for Sunday (27 August).

Jones makes confident season debut

Jones' second place finish comes in her first meet since she wrapped a stellar 2022 season that saw her claim team gold, all-around silver and uneven bars silver at the Worlds.

But since then, she's struggled with both a shoulder and ankle injury that held her out of competition for some 10 months.

Not that it was noticable Friday.

"I never really doubt myself," Jones said afterward. "I push myself really hard. I know what I'm capable of doing. And 2024 is all in. So whatever it takes, if there's bumps in the road, I'm here for it and we're going to get over it."

Jones started on her two highest scoring events: vault and uneven bars, earning marks of 14.350 and 14.900. Her one hiccup of the day came on the balance beam where she grabbed the side of the apparatus after a two foot layout. She scored 13.450.

She closed her day with a 14.050 effort on the floor exercise.

"I'm hungry," Jones said. "And so I'm just super excited that I came out here and did what I was capable of doing."