Simone Biles is ending any debate about her status as the greatest gymnastics athlete of all time.
With her latest performance, she became the most decorated gymnastics athlete to ever compete. Biles won her sixth all-around title on Oct. 6 at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. Biles began her medal collection at the competition almost ten years ago as a wide-eyed 16-year-old girl and now as a 26-year-old woman, she is still chasing more medals with her eye on the Paris Olympics.
“Because 10 years ago, I won my first worlds. Now we’re back here. So it was emotional,” Biles explained. “It means everything to me, the fight, everything that I’ve put in to get back to this place, feel comfortable and confident enough to compete,” Biles told the crowd after her historic win, according to The Associated Press.
Biles once again showcased her dominance by beating her closest opposition by nearly two points. Biles has won 27 world championship medals, 21 of those are gold and even though she had a bit of a stumble on her floor routine during this latest event, everything else was nearly flawless. Biles said that competing in the team event made her more nervous, because that’s the event she was competing in when she experienced the “twisties” which later caused her to pull out of the Tokyo Olympics.
“I was so much more nervous for team finals because that’s when everything occurred (in Tokyo), so I was a little bit traumatized from that. So today I felt a little bit more relaxed,” Biles said. “So I’m happy that that’s over.”
Biles is the most decorated gymnast ever, her win on Oct. 6 gave her a total of 34 medals across all her competitions, including worlds championships and the Olympics. Biles is now tied for the most all-around world titles; the win gave her six.
Biles credits her therapist for helping her to overcome the hurdles that have come with her return to the sport she loves, telling the AP, “Every day I try to think about it, especially in therapy when we talk about it.”
She added, “And I think that’s when all the emotions come up. And I really think about what I’ve done and what we’ve done to the sport and push that forward. So I think it’s really exciting. But all in all, I don’t think it will hit me until I retire and then look back and see everything I’ve done.”
RELATED CONTENT: GOAT Simone Biles Adds Historic Gymnastics Achievements During World Championship Qualifier
