Biles sweeps her way to fifth US championship

BOSTON — Olympic champion Simone Biles easily won her fifth US women’s gymnastics title Sunday night, winning all four events as well as the all-around in a dominant performance that showcased the ever-widening chasm between Biles and the rest of her sport.

The 21-year-old posted a two-day total of 119.850, more than six points ahead of reigning world champion Morgan Hurd and a full seven points clear of Riley McCusker. Biles’ margin of victory was greater than the gap between Hurd and 11thplace finisher Jordan Chiles.

Biles is the second woman to win nationals five times, joining Clara Schroth Lomady, who won six between 1945 and 1952. Biles also became the first woman since three-time Olympian Dominique Dawes in 1994 to wind up first on floor exercise, balance beam, vault and uneven bars.

The only real challenge Biles faced on any event came from McCusker. A year removed from a hamstring injury that forced her to take herself out of consideration for the world championship team, McCusker put on a brilliant performance on uneven bars. She hugged coach Maggie Haney after sticking her dismount, but McCusker’s total of 29.300 was a tenth less than the 29.400 Biles posted on an event that used to be a weakness, or at least as close to a weakness as Biles gets.

A year ago Biles was wrapping up a post-Olympic whirlwind in which she basked in the aftermath of her glorious run at the 2016 Olympics in which she brought home four gold medals, five overall and entered the “first-name” pantheon in gymnastics, a club that includes Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton.

Biles, however, is making a compelling case that she may be entering a class all her own. She didn’t get serious about a return until last fall, when she went back into training with new coaches in Laurent and Cecile Landi and not just returning to the form that made her one of the stars in Rio de Janeiro but pushing the boundaries of gymnastics.

Biles will get a chance to add to her 14 world championship medals when she leads Team USA to Qatar in October.