Simone Biles retained her legacy by claiming her sixth world all-around title at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.
Biles clinched her first world all-around title at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp as a 16-year-old. Returning after 10 years, she achieved the remarkable feat again, totaling the number of medals in world championships to 27, the highest of all time among female gymnasts.
The 26-year-old earned the all-around title by scoring a total of 58.399 points. Biles was followed by Rebeca Andrade, who scored 56.766. Biles' fellow American gymnast, Shilese Jones, secured third place, scoring a total of 56.332.
After winning the all-around event, Simone Biles was seen celebrating her victory with Jones. Biles, who was full of excitement and enthusiasm was seen doing a little happy dance while holding Jones' hand. Biles couldn't control her excitement and was seen shouting with joy.
Watch the clip here:
Simone Biles scored a total of 15.100 on the vault, 14.333 on the uneven bars, 14.533 on floor exercise, and 14.333 on the balance beam. With her recent victory, Biles has now become the world's most celebrated gymnast in history, amassing a total of 34 medals across the World Championships and Olympics.
Shilese Jones secured her second all-around title. The 21-year-old won a silver medal in the same event, at the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
"I don't think it will hit me till may be I retire and look back" - Simone Biles reflects on her success so far
Simone Biles' career so far has been nothing less than legendary. She has 27 world championship medals and seven medals from the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
After withdrawing from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and making a dominating comeback at the 2023 US Classics, she has proved her legacy. In an interview post her recent victory in Antwerp, Simone Biles expressed her thoughts as she looked back on her career so far.
"Everyday I try to think about it," Biles said. "Especially in therapy when we talk about it and I think that's when all the emotions come up and I really think about what I've done and what we've done to this sport and push that forward."
"I think it's really exciting but all in all I don't think it'll hit me till may be I retire and then look back and see everything that I have done," Biles continued.
Even after accumulating the highest number of medals in the history of gymnastics, the 26-year-old has her sight set on the 2024 Paris Olympics.