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Dazzling Biles wins record eighth US all-around gymnastics title

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Simone Biles in action on floor during the US Gymnastics Championships Women" s="" Day="" at="" SAP="" Center="" in="" San="" August="" John="" G.="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/tvpatrol/08/28/simone-biles.jpg"/><figcaption>Simone Biles in action on floor during the US Gymnastics Championships Women&#x27;s Day 2 at SAP Center in San Jose, California, USA, August 27, 2023. <em>John G. Mabanglo, EPA-EFE.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>SAN JOSE -- Simone Biles dazzled on floor exercise Sunday on the way to a record eighth all-around title at the US Gymnastics Championships, another step on a comeback trail pointing toward the Paris Olympics.</p><p>The four-time Olympic gold medalist electrified the SAP Center crowd with a soaring floor routine that included a rock-solid landing on her signature Biles I tumbling pass of double layout with a half-twist.</p><p>It was her final event of the competition and brought ecstatic fans to their feet, earning a score of 15.400 for a triumphant all-around total of 118.450 points.</p><p>Shi Jones, last year&#x27;s world championships all-around silver medalist, was second, 3.9 points back with 114.550 and Leanne Wong was third on 111.100.</p><p>Biles broke the record for most all-around titles for a man or woman, set by Alfred Jochim with his seventh in 1933 and matched by Biles in 2021.</p><p>Ten years after winning her first US all-around title, the 26-year-old Biles became the oldest woman to seize the national all-around title.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;ve been doing it for so long, I feel like I don&#x27;t think about numbers,&quot; Biles told broadcaster NBC. &quot;I think about my performance and I think overall I hit eight for eight.</p><p>&quot;I guess it&#x27;s a lucky number this year.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/06/23/biles-captures-us-classic-in-return-to-gymnastics-competition">Biles captures US Classic in return to gymnastics competition</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/05/23/no-hesitation-as-simone-biles-prepares-for-return">&#x27;No hesitation&#x27; as Simone Biles prepares for return</a></li></ul><p>Biles had taken control on Friday with a dazzling version of her Yurchenko double pike vault that was awarded 9.8 for execution and scored a whopping 15.700.</p><p>On Sunday in vault, she opted for a moderately less difficult Cheng vault, scoring 14.850 -- still the second-highest scoring vault of the competition.</p><p>She also achieved her aim of ironing out a few mistakes on balance beam, capturing apparatus gold in vault, beam and floor and finishing third in the uneven bars.</p><p>Biles was the only competitor to finish the two days of competition with two scores of 15 or higher. Jones produced the only other score of 15 -- with a 15.0 on Sunday&#x27;s uneven bars.</p><p>Biles&#x27;s triumph came in just the second competition of her return from a two-year break, which followed her dramatic withdrawal from multiple events at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.</p><p>She was the sport&#x27;s dominant force and out to defend four gold medals won in Rio when she pulled out of most of her events in Tokyo citing the &quot;twisties&quot; -- the dangerous phenomenon in which gymnasts lose their sense of where they are in the air.</p><p>Her decision to withdraw was widely hailed as a watershed moment for the issue of mental health in elite sports.</p><p>Biles did earn a balance beam bronze in Tokyo, and now she looks set to contend again at next month&#x27;s World Championships in Antwerp and, by extension, the Paris Olympics next year.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/29/21/tokyoolympics-simone-biles-twisties">How the &#x27;twisties&#x27; derailed Simone Biles&#x27; Olympic record bid</a></li></ul><div><strong>- Personal goals -</strong></div><p>But as she remains focused on her mental well-being, Biles declined to elaborate on the &quot;personal goals&quot; fueling her latest return to the sport, which started with an all-around title at the US Classic three weeks ago.</p><p>&quot;I like to keep them personal, just so that I know what I&#x27;m aiming for,&quot; she said. &quot;I think it&#x27;s better that way. I&#x27;m trying to move a little bit differently this year than I have in the past. I think it&#x27;s working so far.</p><p>&quot;So I&#x27;m going to keep it a little bit secretive,&quot; said Biles, adding &quot;not yet&quot; when asked if she could share whether those goals included Paris.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/31/21/biles-says-mental-health-problems-began-before-olympics">Biles says mental health problems began before Olympics</a></li></ul><p>Certainly Biles, who has won 19 World Championships gold medals, has shown before she can come back.</p><p>She won four straight US all-around titles from 2013-16, then took a break after her dominant performance at the Rio de Janeiro Games before returning to win two more in 2018-19.</p><p>After the Covid pandemic wiped out the 2020 championships and pushed back the Olympics, she won a national all-around title before the drama of her highly anticipated Tokyo campaign.</p><p>Her &quot;amazing&quot; reception from fans in San Jose, Biles said, was a morale-building reminder that &quot;everybody in here believes in me&quot; as she heads to next month&#x27;s training camp where the US women&#x27;s team for Antwerp will be chosen.</p><p>&quot;So I just need to start believing in myself a little bit more,&quot; she said.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IXxuBvFdTqY?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Simone Biles dazzled on floor exercise Sunday on the way to a record eighth all-around title at the US Gymnastics Championships.