Simone Biles drew plenty of media attention during Thursday’s training session in Antwerp, Belgium. (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
In ANTWERP, Belgium, on Thursday, as gymnasts practiced their warm-ups and routines on each apparatus in preparation for the upcoming world championships, the U.S. women consistently drew a large audience. Although fans were unable to attend this training session, a multitude of cameras trailed the American gymnasts as they moved from one event to another, gathering around the platform that raised the equipment.
Once Simone Biles arrived at the venue, attention gravitated toward her, whether she was sitting on a mat, waiting for her turn or soaring through the air during her difficult routines. She enters the competition as the undisputed headliner, a deserved status because of her 23 world and Olympic gold medals. But the anticipation also stems from curiosity: How will Biles perform here on a global stage after a mental block derailed her run through the Tokyo Games two years ago?
Biles has shined since she returned to competition in August, earning the world’s best all-around score this year. She has felt some nerves in Antwerp, more than at those recent national-level competitions, her coach Cecile Landi said, and so have the other American gymnasts. By the time they began Thursday’s formal training session, they methodically delivered one solid routine after another, performances that would be more than enough to earn another team gold.
“They settled in,” said Chellsie Memmel, the technical lead of the U.S. high performance staff. “They got in a groove and did just what they’ve been doing in practice all week, so I’m really happy with where we’re at.”
When the Americans competed at world championships a year ago, they entered the last rotation of the team final with a significant cushion despite an earlier mistake on beam. They cruised to the gold medal, outscoring second-place Britain by more than three points.
That was without Biles. Now with the sport’s biggest star on the team again, that margin could be even larger.
During Thursday’s training session, Biles impressed with her Yurchenko double pike, the vault that will be named for her if she lands it during these world championships. The skill is so extraordinary that, even in mostly empty arenas with only other gymnasts and staffers in attendance, Biles’s practice attempts provoke an audible expression of awe. Biles’s difficult routines on each apparatus give her an edge over her peers and bolster the U.S. team score.
Since 2006, when the open-ended scoring was introduced, the U.S. women have never finished worse than second place at the Olympics or world championships. But their run of unquestioned dominance began about a decade ago, and it has in large part coincided with Biles’s career.
Biles led the United States to team golds at world championships in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019, as well as the Olympic gold in 2016. In those victories, the Americans had an average cushion of nearly seven points and never finished less than five points ahead of the silver medalist. In the pre-Biles era, only the 2012 team won the gold with a margin (5.066 points) that rivaled what these recent Biles-led squads have accomplished.
With Simone Biles, the United States won most major
competitions by wide margins
The U.S. women have finished first or second at every major team
competition since 2006, but their most dominant stretch has been
during Simone Biles’s career. From 2014 to 2019, the Americans
won gold with at least a five-point edge over the silver medalist in each team final.
The U.S. team is not invincible; the Tokyo Olympics were a reminder of that. Biles withdrew from the team final after the first rotation, and the Americans slipped to second. Even as the world’s best gymnast, Biles can make mistakes; she had a rough outing at the U.S. selection event when she barely clinched the top all-around score. So it helps that this squad at worlds has other gymnasts with experience and medal potential.
Among all the competitors at worlds, Biles and fellow American Shilese Jones have earned the top two all-around scores this year. Jones, the reigning world all-around silver medalist, also has added a harder dismount to her routine on bars. Leanne Wong won an all-around silver at worlds in 2021. Skye Blakely has been consistently strong this season on bars and beam. And Joscelyn Roberson, the only first-timer, looked poised during training and could win an individual medal on vault.
Collectively, the U.S. team enters the competition with a massive edge. Russia, the first-place finisher in Tokyo and often the top challenger, remains banned because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, so other countries — such as Britain, Brazil, China and Italy — will vie for positions on the podium but with the top spot probably out of reach.
For the Americans — and especially for this team anchored by Biles — most of the uncertainty lies not in what color medal they will receive but the extent of the dominance that will lead them to the gold.
