On Friday night at the U.S. Championships, the gymnastics superstar made a statement by putting on an electrifying routine that featured a show-stopping vault and looking poised for another chance at Olympic glory in Paris the following summer.
The 26-year-old posted an all-around total of 59.300 on Sunday, putting a record eighth national crown within reach while sporting a bedazzled purple leotard and her family’s “Still I Rise” T-shirts.
After suffering from a mental block called “the twisties” that caused her to withdraw herself from many finals at the 2020 Olympics in order to ensure her own safety, Biles was still doubtful of her commitment to a comeback as recently as this spring.
She wowed the crowd at her comeback meet this month in Chicago. In front of a boisterous SAP Center audience, the Olympic champion from 2016 performed even better. The audience cheered each time she saluted the judges to begin a program.
Particularly on vault, where her combination of strength and accuracy can transform two seconds of flight into a show, they only became louder as she finished them.
In 2021, she dabbled in the Yurchenko double pike, a vault that is so challenging that few men attempt it and that no woman has ever successfully executed in a major competition. With her hands tucked under her ramrod straight knees as she performed two backflips while roundoffing into the table on Friday, she may have nailed the move.
With the exception of a minor bounce on the landing, it was nearly faultless. She received an astounding 9.8 for execution from the judges, who agreed. Despite the fact that Biles voluntarily accepted a half-point neutral reduction so coach Laurent Landi may be present on the mat in case something went wrong with her dismount, her 15.7-point total was the greatest of the evening for any event.
Instead, he saw a close-up of an athlete who appeared to be at the height of her impressive abilities.
Although Biles wasn’t flawless—she stumbled while mounting the balancing beam, almost bungled her wolf turn, and stepped outside the lines during floor exercise—the distance between her and the rest of a brilliant group of Americans is still quite wide.
Shilese Jones, who finished second at last year’s nationals and won three silver medals at the 2022 world championships, is in second place with a score of 56.550, which includes an incredible 14.9 on the uneven bars.
Leanne Wong is in fourth place at 55.350, followed by Skye Blakely in third place at 55.700, Jordan Chiles in fifth place at 55.350, and 2020 Olympic silver medallist Jordan Blakely in sixth place at 55.700.
Sunisa Lee, the current Olympic champion, performed on the vault and balancing beam despite being hampered by a renal disease. Lee performed a scaled-back Yurchenko full-on vault while donning a leotard with Auburn, where she competed for two seasons. Her beam performance was graceful, albeit she did leap off at the end of a series.
The U.S. Championships are the final practice session before the camp next month, where the five-woman squad that will represent the United States in the world championships in Belgium, will be chosen.