Gymnast Simone Biles, who spent part of her upbringing in Spring, Texas, made history this past weekend at the U.S. Championships. After a two-year break, Biles won a record fifth all-around title, sweeping all four events.
Biles has now become the first woman to win all five of the gold medals at the national gymnastic championship. This had not happened since Dominque Dawes was the all-around national champion in 1994.
Biles margin of victory over Morgan Hurd, the 2017 all-around champion, was a whopping 6.55. That margin is even bigger than what separates Hurd from the 11th placeholder.
“I knew I was capable of [scoring this well], but I kind of thought I was going to be a nervous wreck and maybe fall apart,” explained Biles. “Going into these events, I know I kept telling my family like, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to be able to calm myself down the way I did before and handle the nerves’ but so far, so good.”
A dark cloud has remained over the sport of gymnastics following the countless accounts of sexual abuse at the hands of Larry Nassar. Biles, who herself came forward with her own horrifying sexual assault experience wore a teal colored leotard in solidarity with fellow survivors.
This U.S. Championship victory marks Biles’ fifth U.S. all-around title.
Riley McCusker, third-place gymnast said, “She’s just in another league almost. I’m honestly just in awe of her.”
Biles, the four-time Olympic gold medalist who has been deemed the best gymnast ever, has no plans of stopping any time soon and has her sights set on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“A lot of the times when I come into the gym, I shock myself, especially how I’m still improving,” Biles revealed earlier this year. “I guess I would say I am better than I was in Rio.”