World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023: USA claims historic seventh-straight title; Simone Biles wins 33rd World and Olympic medal
The dominant American women overcame an injury to newcomer Joscelyn Roberson in the warmup to soar to gold. Brazil, France capture historic team medals, too.
Artistic Gymnastics
Simone Biles and Team USA captured a historic gold medal Wednesday (4 October) during the women's team final at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp.
Team USA finished with a total of 167.729.
Brazil, led by 2022 World all-around champion Rebeca Andrade, claimed its first-ever medal in the event, taking silver with a team total of 165.530. France was third (164.064), marking the nation's first team medal at Worlds since it won silver - in 1950.
It's a seventh straight global title for the Americans, breaking a tie for most wins in a row with the Chinese men's squad.
Biles' team gold is her 26th medal at the World Championships and 20th title at the global events, both records she held coming into Antwerp.
With seven Olympic medals (four gold, one silver, two bronze), her 33 World and Olympic medals ties her for the most with Vitaly Scherbo, who competed for the Soviet Union, the Unified Team and Belarus.
"I think our grit and fight [makes this team special]. I mean, it wasn't our perfect meet today, we had a teammate go down, and we had some mistakes here and there, [but we] just keep going, keep pushing, keep relying on our training because it was not our best day and that was a little bit close watching those standings," said Biles.
"Before going up on floor, I was like, 'What do I need? What do I need?' And usually you don't feel that pressure, so I think the pressure was a little bit on but we stood up to the occassion."
Simone Biles leads Team USA to gold
The U.S. squad had a frantic start with newcomer Joscelyn Roberson coming up short on a warm-up vault. She was slow to stand up and coach Laurent Landi eventually picked her up and carried her off the podium.
She was replaced by 2021 World all-around silver medallist Leanne Wong, who prior to Roberson's injury was only scheduled to compete on the balance beam.
Shilese Jones and Wong delivered solid Yurchenko double fulls for scores of 14.100 and 14.033, respectively, whiles Biles anchored the team with a 14.800.
On the uneven bars, the squad was solid with three scores above 14.000 with Skye Blakely hitting a 14.166. Biles added a 14.466, while Jones' high-flying, clean routined capped the rotation with a 14.633.
Team USA got off to a shaky start on the balance beam when leadoff Wong took a hard fall on her opening aerial cartwheel. Appearing rattled by the fall, the University of Florida rising junior opted for just a double-full dismount. She scored 11.600.
Jones, 13.600, and Biles, 14.300, righted the ship, putting the U.S. in prime position to cap off the championship in the final rotation.
On floor, it was again Wong, Jones and Biles taking to the apparatus, with Team USA's ace veteran delivering a massive 15.166 to seal the title.
Biles came alive after nailing her third tumbling pass, one of the five elements named in her honour and the one she originated 10 years ago in this very arena.
"That I only had one more pass left, and that I could get out of here because I felt like the floor rotation took forever," she said of what was going through her mind as she lit up Antwerp's SportspaIeis. "I was like, 'I'm going to pass out if I stand here any longer.' I was so nervous today more than anything, I was so frazzled after [Joscelyn] went down and I was just like, 'Get it together, get it together.'"
Triumphant return to global stage for Simone
In her return to the sport following a two-year hiatus after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Biles has emphasised a new approach to her craft.
“I think what success means to me is a little bit different than before because before everyone defined success for me, even if I had my own narrative that I wanted,” Biles told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview prior to the global event.
“So, now, it’s just showing up, being in a good head place, having fun out there, and whatever happens, happens.”
Biles' competition continues on Friday (6 October), when she'll be the favourite for a sixth individual World all-around title, something only the great Uchimura Kohei of Japan has accomplished in the sport.
Brazilian breakthrough for Andrade, Barbosa
Brazil has long had the talent – this talent in fact. Veteran Jade Barbosa won her first Worlds medal way back in 2007, while Flavia Saraiva and Andrade made their senior international debuts in 2015.
Wednesday night, they finally put it all together.
After a few shaky performances on the balance beam, including a fall from leadoff Julia Soares, the team found its groove on the floor exercise, earning the top team total of the day on that apparatus.
With a medal on the line, the veterans stepped up on vault with Barbosa and Saraiva going first with double twisting Yurchenkos. Tokyo 2020 Olympic vault gold medallist Andrade was the anchor, nailing a Cheng vault for a 14.900 and the historic medal.
"When Tokyo didn't happen as a team, we got really concerned on how long it would take us to get up again," said Barbosa afterward, referencing the Brazilian team missing out on the 2020 Games altogether.
"For many countries, it takes many years. So we worked really hard that this time was as short as possible," she sadded. "But we believed in this result as a team for many years. Our greatest hurdle was having everyone in great shape at the same time. We're talking about girls that, because of their level of gymnastics, end up having injuries."
France, Melanie de Jesus dos Santos deliver
The French team was solid through three rotations, earning scores of 39.633 for floor exercise; 41.966 on vault; and 41.399 on uneven bars, to set up a pressure-packed final rotation on the balance beam.
One-by-one, Morgane Osyssek-Reimer, Marine Boyer and Melanie de Jesus dos Santos answered the calling. Each executed clean exercises, punctuated by one of the best routines of de Jesus dos Santos' careers.
It earned a 14.000 and her nation's first medal in over 70 years.
"For the moment, I didn’t realize [we had done it] and I think it was the same for all of us," de Jesus dos Santos said afterward.
"I’m very proud of my team and of our performances. It’s unbelievable."