After a stunning performance in the beam and floor finals, Biles has taken her medal tally to 25, breaking another world record.
Less than a week after breaking the world record as the most decorated female gymnast of all time, Simone Biles has set the bar higher (haha, geddit?) once again. This time, she's broken the world record for most World Gymnastics Championship medals - ever. Like, of all time. In all of history. And honestly, did any of us expect any less? Of course, we're amazed and astonished at her athletic prowess. However, the gymnast has been praised as one of the best athletes to ever exist, so it's really no surprise that Biles would push the envelope even further. Sadly, this may have been her last World Championships, The Guardian reports.
On Sunday, October 13, Biles won the beam and floor finals at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, taking her total career tally of medals to a whopping 25 medals. On the final day of the championships, the superwoman gymnast took home gold medals in the team, all-around, and vault finals. But she wasn't ready to stop there. For those who have been following her journey, you'll know she had something to prove on the balance beam. At the Rio Olympics in 2016, she was awarded a bronze medal after losing her balance and grabbing hold of the beam. In addition to this, she fell off the beam in the all-around final at the World Championships last year. So she definitely had a chip on her shoulder to brush off.
Therefore, Biles received vindication after she produced one of the greatest beam routines of her career this past weekend. She was awarded a score of 15.066 and a beautiful, shiny gold medal. Regarding the success of her beam routine, she stated, "It meant a lot because Cecile [Landi, beam coach] has really been working on bringing my confidence back up to where it used to be on the beam. To go out there and nail the routine, just like I do in practice, it felt really good and I knew she was really proud." This also means that of her 25 hard-earned medals, 19 of them are now gold (she also won a gold medal for her floor exercise routine) - a feat no other gymnast has accomplished. This is perhaps the most notable part of her consistent success.
She has thus surpassed Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo, who previously held the world record for most World Championship medals at 23 medals. While this may have been her last World Championships (as she's implied on numerous occasions), the four-time Olympian is now prepping to take all at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Unfortunately, the upcoming Olympics may be her last. One thing is for sure, though: America has found its new hero and we're madly in love.