What’s next for Simone Biles after dominant return to action?
USA TODAY Sports’ Tom Schad breaks down Simone Biles’ dominant performance at the U.S. Classic and what the future holds for the gymnastics superstar.
SportsPulse, USA TODAY
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Simone Biles is daring to go where no other gymnast – man or woman – has gone.
Biles’ hunt for a record eighth all-around national championship concludes Sunday as she takes the floor at the U.S. gymnastics championships at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. Biles comes in more than 2.5 points ahead of reigning world all-around silver medalist Shilese Jones and the rest of the pack.
Biles won her seventh U.S. championship in June 2021, weeks before the Olympic trials for the Tokyo Games. That victory tied Alfred Jochim, who captured seven all-around titles nearly 100 years ago.
“I’m pretty happy with the overall meet today,” Biles told NBC after Friday’s first night of competition. “My goal for the weekend is just to hit 8-for-8 and then hopefully come in on Sunday and hit a little bit of a smoother beam routine.”
Keep up with live updates on Biles, her U.S. Olympic teammate Suni Lee and the other gymnasts on the final night of competition.
The women’s senior competition concludes Sunday night, starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The U.S. gymnastics championships will begin airing on television on NBC and CNBC at 7 p.m. ET, though not all events will be broadcast live. See the broadcast schedule at NBCSports.com.
The U.S. gymnastics championships will be live streamed on NBCSports.com, the NBC Sports app and Peacock.
Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee are all competing in San Jose and each joined Biles at the Tokyo Olympics.
The Yurchenko double pike vault Simone Biles did Friday night was close to perfect. Her coach knew it. Fans knew it. The judges knew it, awarding Biles a 9.8, out of 10, for execution.
Yet, when her score posted, it included this: “ND: -0.500.” A deduction? For what?
As it turns out, it wasn’t anything Biles did, exactly. More like what she had. Which was coach Laurent Landi standing on the podium, ready to assist her if something went awry during the vault so difficult Biles is the only woman to ever do it in competition and few men even try.
