Despite Unbeatable Vault, Simone Biles Takes Huge Risk for Her 6th Title at World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023

A decade ago, Simone Biles secured her very first world gold medal at Sportpaleis Antwerp. And on Wednesday, she celebrated her 20th as the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team clinched the top spot at the very same place at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. This marks their seventh consecutive World title. Biles played a pivotal role in securing this victory with her stunning floor routine during the final rotation

At the women’s qualifying event too, Biles showcased her incredible “Yurchenko Double Pike Vault,” now famously known as “Biles II.” This vault carries the highest difficulty score of 6.4. However, in the Women’s All-Around Final at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships on Friday, Biles opted to take a risk for a different, less difficult vault.

Simone Biles takes a huge risk in the all-around finals

Scott Bregman, in a post on X, remarked, “Nice Cheng for Simone’s second touch. I think it’s improved over the week.” Biles earned a score of 15.100 (9.5 Execution) for this vault. Another post by the same handle on X revealed, “Even without the YDP, Simone is only down .166 from qualifying.”

She chose to perform the Cheng vault. The Yurchenko double pike received a 6.4 difficulty score from the International Gymnastics Federation, indicating that perfect execution would yield a score of 16.4, whereas the Cheng has a difficulty score of 5.6. The first rotation, she found herself in second place with a total score of 15.100, trailing slightly behind Kaylia Nemour of Algeria, who scored 15.200.? However, very soon she turned the tables and tipped the scale in her favor.

How the tables turned

As the night progressed Biles kept her fans at the edge of their seats. On even bars she earned a solid score of 14.333. Then in the final rotation on floor exercise, despite a little stumble towards the end, Biles earned a remarkable score of 14.533. Her final standings of the night culminated with a score of 58.399 points, showing her dominance.

She clinched her sixth World All-Around title surpassing Rebeca Andrade from Brazil, who earned the silver medal with a score of 56.766, and her teammate Shilese Jones, who won the bronze medal, scoring 56.332 points. Securing her sixth all-around World Championship title, she became the first female to ever do so.

Read more: Despite NFL Commitments, Simone Biles? Husband Jonathan Owens Innovatively Backs the Legend Amidst Nerves in World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 2023

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