Simone Biles capped off the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth on Sunday with a record ninth all-around national title, and she can now shift her focus to prepare for the Olympic trials.
Biles’ final scores during the competition, which was held at Dickies Arena, totaled 119.750 points, which was an astonishing 5.9 better than second-place finisher Skye Blakely, who finished with a score of 113.850, per the Olympics.
The former gold medalist finished the competition with a score of 29.6 on the balance beam, 30.3 on the floor exercise, 29.05 on the uneven bars, and 30.8 on the vault.
Each of her scores ranked as the highest for any gymnast in those exercises.
Kayla DiCello came in third place in the championships with a score of 110.8. Fourth place was claimed by Sunisa Lee with a score of 110.65, and Jordan Chiles finished in fifth with a score of 110.4.
Biles had already won a record-setting eight U.S. Gymnastics Championships in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023.
Following her victory, Biles told NBC that she came in focused on competing at a high level and making sure she would be ready to start training for the Olympics.
“Today, it was just getting out there and getting comfortable and confident in my gymnastics and hopefully going to Olympic trials and making that next step towards Paris,” she said, per the Olympics.
“I couldn’t be more proud of how I’m doing this time of the year, just getting that confidence. Over and over, getting myself back in front of the crowd. And just doing what I do in practice.”
Biles will now look ahead to the Olympic trials, which she and Blakely automatically qualified for due to their performances on Sunday.
These trials will involve 16 gymnasts traveling to Minneapolis to compete June 27-30 to make the five-person Olympics team.
The remaining 14 spots in the trials will be filled by Chiles, Dichello, Lee, Dulcy Caylo, Jade Care, Shilese Jones, Kaliya Lincoln, Evey Lowe, Zoey Molomo, Hezly Rivera, Simone Rose, Joscelyn Roberson, Tiana Sumanasekera, and Leanne Wong, per the Olympics.
The U.S. has finished previous world competitions at the top, with America earning six or more medals, including at least two gold medals, in each of the last five Olympics.
