Woodlands’ Cook dives into Rio; Spring’s Biles defends gymnastics title
Spring’s Biles captures 4th consecutive national crown, sets sights on upcoming Olympic trials with an eye on Rio
ST. LOUIS — Simone Biles won her fourth consecutive USA Gymnastics women’s allaround title with a wink, a smile, soaring leaps, precision tumbling and the knowledge that she has things she can improve before next month’s Olympic trials.
Biles, 19, of Spring won in a walk, scoring 125 points over two nights to win by 3.9 points over 2012 Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman. Firstyear senior competitor Lauren Hernandez was third with 120.5 points, and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Gabrielle Douglas was fourth with 117.8 points.
Now it’s on to the July 8-10 trials in San Jose, Calif., where Biles is a prohibitive favorite to make the five-member team en route to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she will be favored to win as many as five gold medals.
First, though, there is work to be done. Biles admitted that her legs were tired midway through Sunday’s competition, and she had uncharacteristic errors on uneven bars and balance beam after coming as close as a human can get to perfection on vault.
“There’s always something to work on in the gym,” she said. “Bars and beam were a little bit of a disappointment, but I did what (national team coordinator Martha Karolyi) told me to do, which is fix my first vault. I guess that’s good.”
Good? It was almost perfect. She barreled down the runway on her first vault, which ventures into a round-off flip onto the launching board, a back handspring onto the vaulting table and 2½ twists, and soared through the air to a solid landing.
The maximum score on the vault is 16.2 points, and Biles scored 16.2.
“I crossed my feet,” she said with a shrug.
She had a form break on uneven bars on an attempted handstand on the lower bar, and she had a balance check and a low landing with step forward on her dismount at the end of balance beam.
But she vaulted like a champ, and she danced through her floor-exercise routine like a star, even throwing a wink at one point to 2008 Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson, sitting at ringside at Chaifetz Arena.
But both bobbles caught Karolyi’s all-seeing eye, and both will serve as object lessons that even for the best, one can always be better.
“Simone did a very good job, but on the last two events she made little mistakes,” Karolyi said. “So that just reminds us that we can never be too relaxed. We still have to stay on the top of our toes to perform at the highest level, and she agrees with me.”
With Biles a virtual cinch to make the team, much of Karolyi’s attention Sunday night was turned to the other contenders.
Raisman, one of the two returning Olympians, again boosted her stock as arguably the second-best all-arounder on the floor with solid scores on three events, and Hernandez, a first-year senior competitor, took a huge step toward sewing up a spot on the five-member team for Rio.
“Laurie impressed me a lot,” Biles said. “I know she struggles with confidence in her own gymnastics, and it’s good that I can be here to help her and show her she can have confidence. She is an amazing gymnast.”
Douglas, meanwhile, struggled in her opening uneven-bars routine, struggling to complete a handstand on a swing from the high bar to the low. She improved on balance beam, however, and remains a top contender for the five-person team to be selected next month.
Karolyi also was impressed with Dallas gymnast Madison Kocian, who had a 15.7 score on uneven bars and was fifth overall. Ashton Locklear, who also had a 15.7 score on bars, might be her top competitor for a spot on the team.
Former world team member MyKayla Skinner, however, had two falls on balance beam and slumped to 10th place in the overall standings.
As the trials approach, the focus on Biles will increase, and Bela Karolyi, the sharp-eyed grand wizard of gymnastics, thinks she is worthy of the spotlight.
“She is a very happy person. She enjoys what she is doing,” Bela Karolyi said. “And why not? She is injury-free. She is doing so easily what other people are struggling to do. Of course, she’s happy. I would love to be that way.”
An all-around gold medal at the Olympics for Biles, Bela Karolyi said, “is not just a possibility, it’s almost a certainty. I don’t see how anybody in the world can beat Simone at this time.”