Simone Biles wins historic 8th all-around title at U.S. championships
Simone Biles has done it again.
A decade after she won her first title, Biles won her eighth all-around title at the U.S. Championship on Sunday night. She is the first gymnast, man or woman, to win eight all-around national titles. At 26, she's the oldest woman to win the all-around title.
.@Simone_Biles 8️⃣ this up.
She's the first gymnast in history - man or woman - to win 8 U.S. all-around titles!#XfinityChampspic.twitter.com/vcz2T3b9yN— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 28, 2023
"It's 8. I guess it's a lucky number this year."
Hear from 8-time U.S. national all-around champion @Simone_Biles after her historic win. #XfinityChampspic.twitter.com/1bulnxqRe8— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 28, 2023
“I’m at eight. I’ve been doing it for so long. I feel like I don’t think about numbers, I think about my performance,” Biles said on NBC. “And I think overall, I hit eight for eight. It’s eight, I guess it’s a lucky number this year.”
Biles posted a total score of 118.40, which was nearly four full points ahead of runner-up Shilese Jones during the competition at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Leanne Wong finished third. Other Team USA gymnasts from the most recent Olympics in Tokyo who placed were Jordan Chiles (fifth) and Jade Carey (15th). Sunisa Lee competed in only the vault and beam. The average age of the top-five finishers was 21.7, per The Washington Post, which is the oldest since at least 2006.
Biles led in the vault, beam and the floor exercise — which sealed her win on Sunday.
The floor routine that secured @Simone_Biles' 8th national all-around title, a feat that no American gymnast in history has done before. #XfinityChampspic.twitter.com/yRhHxSEcY1
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 28, 2023
Biles landed the Yurchenko double pike on the vault Friday, something no other female gymnast attempts. She held a dominant lead in the competition after the opening day.
Biles’ win broke a tie with Alfred Jochim for the most U.S. all-around national titles. Jochim won his last title in 1933. Biles won four straight titles from 2013-16, and then won again in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Biles made her return to competition earlier this month at the U.S. Classic, which marked her first time at the elite level since the Tokyo Olympics where she withdrew from several events after dealing with the “twisties.”
Next for Biles, presumably, will be the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, next month. Biles won her first world championship title in Antwerp in 2013.
It’s unclear whether Biles will compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris next summer, though it appears she’s trending in that direction. She told NBC on Sunday that she wanted to keep her goals private.
“I like to keep [my goals] personal, just so that I know what I’m aiming for,” Biles said on NBC. “I think it’s better that way. I’m trying to move a little bit differently this year than I have in the past. So I think it’s working so far, so I’m going to keep it secretive.”
