After 2-year break, Biles picks up where she left off in Rio
BOSTON — Simone Biles didn’t come back after a twoyear break from gymnastics to just win. That’s not really what it’s about for the Olympic champion. She’s won enough — more than enough really — during her career. And she’s got the medals to prove it.
The second act of her remarkable career is about something more. At 21, she has a greater appreciation of her own natural abilities than she did when she won four golds at the 2016 Olympics. She wants to find out where all that talent and all that power can take her and her sport.
“I have nothing to prove,” Biles said. “I can quit if I wanted to.”
No chance. She’s simply too curious to see where this thing goes.
Biles dominated the opening night of the U.S. Championships on Friday, posting the highest scores on all four events on her way to an allaround total of 60.100. It’s the first time since the all-around final in Rio de Janeiro two years ago that anyone’s topped 60 points.
No one has really come close in the interim. Then again, no one else is Biles. Reigning world champion Morgan Hurd put together the best night of her career as a senior with a score of 57.000, but will head into Sunday’s finals a distant second behind Biles. The 17year-old Hurd is well aware who she’s up against.
“It’s such an honor to be able to compete with the GOAT,” Hurd said, using the popular acronym for greatest of all time to describe Biles. “She’s just such a legend, and it’s amazing. Clearly I’m watching her because you can’t not watch her. Your eyes are just automatically drawn to her.”
In that sense, nothing has changed for Biles. She returned to competition following her post-Olympic sabbatical at the U.S. Classic two weeks ago and won easily even with a handful of small errors that she promised that she could clean up in time for nationals.
She’s even working in an upgrade or two. Biles did just one vault at the U.S. Classic but added an Amanar on the vault for nationals. She drilled it with ease, seemingly falling out of the sky while finishing her 2 1 ⁄2 twists.
Hurd did her best to keep Biles at least within sight. She missed out on a chance to make a real run at Biles two weeks ago by falling off the beam. There were no major mistakes this time around. She finished in the top five on all four events, looking like someone who has taken a significant step forward over the past 10 months.
Riley McCusker is third, followed by Grace McCallum and Trinity Thomas. Defending national champion Ragan Smith, battling foot injuries, struggled. The 2016 Olympic alternate is tied for ninth after putting up a 53.750, well below her all-around scores at the 2017 championships when she rolled to victory.