Simone Biles took home her eighth U.S. championship title Sunday evening. The gold medalist has gone through a brief period of taking time for herself after dealing with the “twisties” but has returned more grounded than ever.
“It just doesn’t feel real for some reason,” the 26-year-old said.
Six months ago, Biles was unsure if she would return to gymnastics, while in Chicago three weeks ago, she explained that she felt that she would “throw up” every time she saluted the judges — but left Illinois with a knockout score.
Biles posted a two-day all-around total of 118.40 in northern California, moving four points ahead of runner-up Shilese Jones and ahead of Florida junior Leanne Wong in third place. This win surpassed Biles over Alfred Jochim, a former gymnast who won seven between 1925 and 1933 at the Amateur Athletics Union won the championships.
According to The Associated Press, Biles scored 14.850 for her Cheng vault, 14.8 on the beam, and 15.400 on the floor.
We will have to wait until September to see her compete again in Antwerp, where she will work hard to achieve her 25 world championship medals — 18 of them gold so far.
