FORT WORTH, Texas — Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles won her ninth U.S. championship Sunday, leaving no doubt that at 27 years old and having held the top spot for more than a decade, she is as incredible as ever.
Biles finished with a two-day overall score of 119.750 points, nearly six points ahead of runner-up Skye Blakely, and looked all but certain to win her second Olympic all-around gold medal after winning it in 2016.
Before a crowd that included her husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, Biles put on a four-rotation clinic that had all the hallmarks of a typical Biles performance: a mix of incredible athleticism, precision and self-confidence.
Biles earned the two-day record high scores in all four events, a feat she has only achieved once before at a national championships (in 2018), giving her plenty of momentum heading into the Olympic Trials in Minneapolis later this month.
Her only mistake on Sunday was the vault, where she made a mistake during her warm-up on a Yurchenko double pike and then put in too much force and fell onto her back at a crucial moment. But she still managed to earn 15,000 points for her efforts, a testament to the fact that no woman has ever completed the vault in competition and only select men have attempted it.
But she didn’t care: Biles pulled herself together, took a few deep breaths, and then attempted the chain vault, clocking a scorching 15.1 seconds to come within a whisker of winning her ninth national title — no small feat considering no other gymnast in U.S. gymnastics history has won more than seven titles.
Biles is in her usual position near the top, but the U.S. team, which finished second to the Russians in Tokyo three years ago, will enter Paris as the favorites to return to the top of the podium. Competition is fierce for the four remaining spots on the five-person U.S. team.
The 19-year-old Blakely heads to Minneapolis on a roll after another impressive performance, three years after she first set her sights on a spot on the 2020 Olympic team. Ended with an injuryBlakely is peaking at the perfect time.
Suni Lee, the 2020 Olympic gold medalist who has been battling kidney problems that have limited her training for more than a year, shook off an early mistake on vault and performed with such grace on the uneven bars and balance beam that no one, not even Biles, could match.
Olympians Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey were also favorites to win, but both fell on the balance beam on Sunday, while Kayla DiCello came in third on the uneven bars, and Lianne Wong also made some uncharacteristic mistakes that may have been caused by fatigue after a long season of competition in Florida.
Leah Jones, considered the best all-around gymnast in the United States not named Biles, withdrew from the championships Friday because of a shoulder injury but said she felt better Sunday and expected to compete in preliminaries. So did 18-year-old Kariya Lincoln, who opted not to compete Sunday after twisting her ankle during the opening session Friday night.
If healthy, both players (especially Jones) will be favorites to earn invitations to Paris. If they aren’t, the door will be wide open for others, potentially testing the depth that the senior elite program has long touted.
