‘She hit a hole in one’ — Biles wins 6th national title
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The choice was entirely hers. Only there really wasn’t one for Simone Biles to make.
Sure, she could have taken her tripletwisting doubleflip (a.k.a. “the tripledouble”) out of her floorexercise routine during the final night of the U.S. women’s gymnastics championships Sunday. She didn’t need it to assure herself of another national title.
Still, even as coach Laurent Landi left the option up to her after the Olympic champion’s bid to become the first woman to complete the tripledouble in competition came up a bit short Friday, he knew the answer.
Spend time in the gym around the 22yearold who is redefining what’s possible in her sport and it becomes evident that sidestepping a challenge isn’t her thing.
So she threw it in at the end of her first tumbling pass, fueled by adrenaline, ambition and otherworldly skill. When the dizzying combination ended with her feet firmly on the floor — if barely in bounds — the jolt through the packed arena was palpable. And the competition — just like it has been for six years and counting whenever Biles is involved — was over.
The tripledouble served as the exclamation point on her sixth national championship. Her twoday total of 118.500 was nearly five points clear of 16yearold Sunisa Lee in second and almost seven points ahead of thirdplace finisher Grace McCallum.
Yet Biles doesn’t pay too much attention to the margin or her scores for that matter. She has been a fixture atop the podium for six years and counting. Attempting to find the boundaries of her immense talent is what drives her.
It’s why she got so angry after putting both hands down as she tried to land the tripledouble Friday. It’s why she didn’t think about ditching it Sunday. And it’s why she sneaked a peek at her phone while rotating from floor to balance beam, typically a nono during a meet. Well, at least for anyone not named Simone Biles.
“I wanted to see how it looked,” she said. Here’s a word: historic. “It’s like she hit a hole in one and we were all there,” USA Gymnastics highperformance director Tom Forster said. “It’s a big deal and we all know it. No one in the world has done it before in the women and actually, she does it better than most of the men who have done it. She should be super excited about that.”
The anger of Friday, when she seethed after shorting the tripledouble and making a bit of a mess on bars, was gone.
“I was a lot happier today,” Biles said. “I feel I haven’t been as confident on bars this year as I was last year. To finally do a good routine like I can do it, I was really happy.”
For now, anyway. Biles is two months from a trip to the world championships — where her 20 medals are tied for most by a female gymnast — and a year from a return to the Olympics. She was a sensation in 2016, cementing her status as one of the best ever with two weeks of gymnastics that came as close to perfection as the sport allows.
“She’s a freaking beast,” said MyKayla Skinner, an alternate on the 2016 Olympic team who clinched a spot on the national team by finishing eighth. “I always ask her, ‘Do you realize how good you are?’ And she’s like ‘Yeah, but I don’t know.’ It just comes so naturally, it’s amazing.”
Lee and 2017 world champion Morgan Hurd were the only women in the field to place ahead of Biles on any event, finishing onetwo on bars, solidifying their chances of joining Biles at world championships in Germany in October.