Simone Biles Takes Home 5th All-Around Title

Photo: Simone Biles by Elise Amendola, AP
Photo: Simone Biles by Elise Amendola, AP

Over this past weekend, the 2018 Gymnastic Championship was held in Boston. Many gymnasts came out to compete, but Simone Biles took home all the gold.

This year, Biles won her 5th U.S. all-around title at the U.S. Gymnastic Championship. She also won a gold medal in all 4 events in which she competed, including: floor exercise, balance beam, vault, and uneven bars with a cumulative 2-day score of 119.850. She is the first woman to win all five gold medals since Dominique Dave sub 1994.

Biles’ new coach, Laurent Landi spoke of the difficulties leading up to the U.S. Championships: “To handle the pressure, to handle the media, to handle everybody, all the expectation, that’s mentally draining.”

Simone Biles performance wasn’t the only thing that was making a statement this past weekend. In her self-designed teal outfit, Biles took a stand for more than 150 victims, including herself, who were abused by former USA gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar. Teal is the color to signify sexual abuse survivors.

In an interview held after the second day of competitions, Biles stated, “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. 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.” Biles plans an even more accomplishing season in Qatar in the October’s world championship.

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