Simone Biles wins record-breaking eighth all-around national title at U.S. Gymnastics Championships in San Jose
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Published 28/08/2023 at 14:38 GMT
American gymnast Simone Biles won a record eighth all-around title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in San Jose, California on Sunday. The 26-year-old has only recently returned to competition after a two-year mental health absence following issues at the Tokyo Olympic Games, but was more than sharp enough to end a 90-year American record set by Alfred Jochim in 1933.
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Simone Biles won a record-breaking eighth all-around title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in San Jose, California on Sunday.
The 26-year-old wowed a sell-out crowd with a faultless floor routine to cap off the two-day event and cement herself in American history, just one year before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Biles has only just returned to competition following a two-year mental health break, after suffering a case of the ‘twisties' - a temporary loss of spatial awareness in mid-air - at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo.
She was forced to pull out of multiple events as her dreams to build on the dominant success she achieved at the Rio Games in 2016 were dashed.
But she is reaching her scintillating best just at the right time, which helped her end a 90-year American record.
"I've been doing it for so long that I don't think about numbers, I think about my performance and overall I hit eight for eight," Biles said afterwards.
"Eight is the lucky number this year."
She equalled the record of seven all-around titles in 2021, previously set by Alfred Jochim in 1933, and notched her eighth on Sunday.
Entering the second day of competition with a 2.55-point lead, a 14.850 score from the vault helped extend her lead further.
Another solid performance on the uneven bars produced another impressive score of 14.050, before a balance beam routine worth 14.850 gave her a dominant advantage going into the final event - and her strongest - the floor exercise.
And that’s where she confirmed the win, and the record, scoring a 15.400.
"It's really amazing," Biles said of the crowd's jubilant reaction at SAP Center. "Everybody in here believes in me, my team-mates believe in me, my coaches, my family, everyone.
"I just need to start believing in myself a little bit more, but it feels amazing. I love the fans, I love the crowd.
“It was really special."
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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 27: Simone Biles reacts after competing in the floor exercise on day four of the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships at SAP Center on August 27, 2023 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Image credit: Eurosport
Her final score of 118.450 was 3.900 points better than Shilese Jones in second and 7.350 points clear of third place Leanne Wong.
On what her goals are for the Olympic Games in Paris next year, Biles kept her cards close to her chest.
"I like to keep them personal just so that I know what I'm aiming for," she said. "It's better that way. I'm trying to move a little bit differently this year than I have in the past and it's working so far."
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