Simone Biles wins record 9th all-around title at US championships ahead of Paris Olympics

Simone Biles has done it again.

Biles won her ninth national all-around title Sunday night to close out the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas. She won gold on all four apparatus and was near perfect throughout the competition as she prepares for a third appearance at the Olympics this summer in Paris.

The victory in Texas officially clinched a spot for Biles at the U.S. Olympic Trials later this summer. She is now the first gymnast, male or female, to win nine national all-around titles. Biles already owned this record after breaking a tie with Alfred Jochim for the record with his eighth victory last year. This victory also made her the oldest woman to win the title.

Biles finished with a total score of 119.750. She fell once on the vault while trying to get out of her signature Yurchenko double spike. It cost him a one-point deduction and marked his first fall of the season.

Sunday’s victory came after Biles tore through the field at the US Classic last month to win the all-around title. Skye Blakely finished second with a score of 113.850. She narrowly beat Kayla DiCello, who won the bronze medal with a score of 110.800. Shilese Jones did not participate due to a shoulder injury. Jones and Kaliya Lincoln obtained petitions to participate in the Olympic trials.

Biles is getting back into the thick of things heading into the Olympics later this summer after leading Team USA to the team title at the World Gymnastics Championships last fall and winning the Women’s Athlete of the Year award. Year of the Associated Press in 2023.

Although she will still go through qualifying later this summer, Biles will certainly be one of the most followed athletes in the world in France for the Olympics. These will be her first matches since experiencing the “twisties” at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and missing several competitions, which was a surprising development for the four-time Olympic gold medalist.

Once again, however, Biles seems to have returned to her old self. The Olympic trials will begin June 27 in Minneapolis, about a month before the opening ceremony in Paris.