They don’t call Simone Biles the GOAT for nothing. On Oct. 4, the 26-year-old gymnast added another gold medal to her decorated resume after she wowed the judges with her incredible floor routine at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.
Smiling and filled with energy and poise, Biles confidently crushed her floor routine on Wednesday, leading the women’s USA team to its seventh championship title win and earning her 20th world championship gold medal. Biles has three silver and three bronze medals underneath her belt, too.
Showcasing precision and laser-like focus, the Ohio native landed all of the twists and turns packed within her awe-inspiring floor routine and received a high score of 15.166 from the judges, CNN reported.
The decorated gymnast shared Wednesday’s victory with her teammates Leanne Wong, Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely and Joscelyn Roberson, who achieved a combined score of 167.729 during the final round.
Wednesday’s victory was a full-circle moment for Biles.
In 2013, Biles — who was 16 at the time— made an unforgettable debut at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. After completing a stellar all-around routine and an awe-inspiring floor exercise, Biles won two gold medals. She also snagged a silver in vault and a bronze in balance beam during the competition.
Her crowning moment came during the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she secured four gold medals and one bronze medal, the highest number of Olympic gold medals in a single game for a U.S. gymnast, ESPN noted.
She’s also the first woman to win five all-around World Championship titles. Three were earned during her incredible gymnastic run between 2013 and 2015. She was blessed with two more awards in 2018 and 2019.
After her historic win Wednesday, Biles told reporters that she was still processing the legendary feat.
“I think each and every time you are crowned world champion, it feels a little bit different. I mean, I’m still surprised that I’m still going. I’m 26. I’m a little bit older. So, it feels just as good as the first one just because we broke records,” Biles said.
When asked how Wednesday’s win was different from her amazing victories in the past, the GOAT joked that her body hasn’t always been able to keep up with some of her dynamic moves out on the gymnasium floor.
“Just pushing day in and day out is a little bit harder because I am older and my body’s tired. Everybody’s always like, ‘She looks great,’ but I feel like I’m gonna die sometimes,” she laughed.
“But then I come out here and I just rely on my training and get back to work. So it is crazy, but I’m just proud of the work that I’ve put out and proud of the work that Team USA has put in. I’m excited to see how the rest of the world championships go.”
Biles’ big win came just a few days after she made history as the first gymnast to land a Yurchenko Double Pike in vault. Read more about the legendary feat below.
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