Simone Biles wins her ninth U.S. all-around title and sweeps every event at the Xfinity U.S. Championships, solidifying her path to the Paris Olympics.
Simone Biles clinched her record-extending ninth U.S. all-around title and swept every individual event title at the nationals for the second time in her career.
Biles made a strong stride towards what could be her third Olympics in Paris by winning the all-around at the Xfinity U.S. Championships by 5.9 points over Skye Blakely. The combined scores from Friday and Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas, placed her margin of victory significantly ahead of the gap between second and tenth place.
“I couldn’t be more proud of how I’m doing this time in the year and just gaining that confidence over and over, getting myself back in front of a crowd and just doing what I do in practice,” Biles stated.
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This win marked the third-largest margin of victory since the perfect 10 scoring system was replaced in 2006. Biles previously set a record with a 6.55-point victory in 2018, when she also became the first woman since Dominique Dawes in 1994 to sweep all five golds at nationals.
Biles’ only major error across the eight events was on a vault on Sunday, where she over-rotated a double back-flipping vault, fell backward, but then recovered to execute her next vault flawlessly.
“I’m kind of a veteran; it’s not my first time out there,” Biles said. “I’m a little bit older, so I know exactly how to kind of reboot and recollect myself to move onto the next event even if I feel like something wasn’t how I wanted it to go.”
The U.S. Championships were the last major competition before the Olympic Trials, scheduled for June 27-30 in Minneapolis. The trials all-around winner will secure a spot on the team for the Paris Games, while a three-person selection committee will choose the other four team members based on results dating back to last fall’s world championships.
Blakely significantly boosted her Olympic prospects at nationals. Moving from fourth place last year to second this week, she upgraded her vault and achieved her goal of making the podium and scoring at least 56 points each day (57.05, 56.8).
“I know what I’m capable of now,” said Blakely, who debuted a Cheng vault, adding six tenths of difficulty both nights.
In 2021, as a 16-year-old, Blakely tied for seventh in her senior nationals debut. At the Tokyo Olympic Trials, she withdrew after tearing an elbow ligament during vault warm-ups, leading to Tommy John surgery. She has since returned to make the last two world championships teams.
Tokyo Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee also enhanced her chances for Paris. Despite a fall on her opening vault and a subsequent helpful talk with Simone Biles, she improved her balance beam and uneven bars scores from night one to night two, finishing second and fourth overall in those events, which are crucial for her Olympic hopes. Lee is returning after being diagnosed with two kidney diseases early last year and has been in remission since late 2023.
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Shilese Jones, another Olympic team contender, did not compete at nationals due to a right shoulder injury but plans to be at full strength for the trials. Jones won all-around silver and bronze at the last two world championships and was runner-up to Biles at last year’s nationals.