Simone Biles Clinches 9th US all around Title with Five Golds

Simone Biles made history again by winning her ninth US all around title. She also did something incredible by winning every single event at the national championships for the second time in her career.

This mean she was the best in everything she competed in. It was winning all the gold medals. This amazing achievement shows just how good she is at gymnastics.

This win is a big deal because it puts Simone on a path to compete in her third Olympics in Paris. It is like she is taking a big important step toward reaching her Olympic dreams again.

At the Xfinity US championship in Fort Worth, Texas, Simone Biles won the all around by a huge margin of 5.9 points over Skye Blakely. They combined scores from both Friday and Sunday. To understand how big this lead is, it is even greater than the difference between second place and tenth place.

Simone Biles shared that she was feeling really proud of herself for how well she was doing at this time of the year. She was gaining confidence with each performance especially since she is back in front of a crowd. For her it is like doing what she practices but with even more excitement and energy from the audience.

This win marks the third largest margin of victory since they changed the scoring system in 2006. In 2018 Simone had the biggest lead ever with a whopping 6.55 points. That same year she made history by the first woman since Dominique Dawes in 1994 to win gold in all five events at nationals.

Throughout the competition this year, Simone was nearly flawless in eight events between Friday and Sunday. However, she had a minor slip-up on a vault during Sunday’s competition. Despite this small mistake, her overall performance was still incredibly impressive.

During the competition, Simone faced a challenge when she over-rotated while attempting her own signature move, a double back-flipping vault. This caused her to fall backward. However, she didn’t let it get her down. She smiled as she walked away and then nailed her next vault.

Afterward she shared that despite the mishap, shs experienced enough to handle setbacks. She described herself as a veteran because she is in these situations before. Being a bit older now, she knows exactly how to bounce back and refocus, even if things do not go exactly as planned.

The US championship was the final big competition before the Olympic Trials, scheduled for June 27-30 in Minneapolis.

At the trials, the gymnast who wins the all around competition automatically earns a spot on the team for the Paris Games. Then, a selection committee of three people will choose the other four team members based on their performances including results from the world championships held last fall. So, it is not just about how they do at the trials, but also how they performed leading up to this point.

At the nationals, Skye Blakely’s chances of making it to the Olympics got much better. Last year, she finished fourth in the all around, but this time she climbed up to second place. One of the reason for her improvement was that she upgraded her vault.

Blakely was really happy with her performance. She said, now I want to know what I can do. Her goal to get on the podium and score at least 56 points each day and she achieved that by scoring 57.05 and 56.8 points on the two days.

One of the big changes she made was debuting a Cheng vault, which added more difficulty to her routine. This upgrade helped her earn more points and improve her overall performance.

In 2021, 16 year old Skye Blakely impressed at her senior nationals debut, is trying for seventh place as the youngest in the top 16. However, at the Tokyo Olympic Trials she injured her elbow and had to withdraw undergo surgery. Despite this setback she bounced back making it to the last two world championships teams.

Suni Lee, the Tokyo Olympic all-around champion, faced a stumble during her first vault at the nationals. But with encouragement from Simone Biles, she improved her scores on the balance beam and uneven bars, finishing second and fourth overall in these events, boosting her chances for Paris Olympics.

Suni Lee faced a tough time after being diagnosed with two kidney diseases early last year. But thankfully, she’s been in remission since late 2023, which means her health has improved.

Another athlete aiming for the Olympic team, Shilese Jones, couldn’t compete at the nationals because of a right shoulder injury. However, she’s determined to be fully recovered in time for the trials.

Jones has a strong track record, winning silver and bronze in the all-around at the last two world championships. She also came second to Biles at last year’s nationals, showing she’s a top contender for the Olympic team.