Simone Biles clinched the vault silver medal at the World Gymnastics Championships, demonstrating her extraordinary talent despite a rare fall during her performance. Biles, who was the top qualifier and a significant favorite, executed an over-rotated Yurchenko double pike (now known as a Biles, as she is the first and only woman to land it internationally) and landed safely on her back on the mat.
Despite the fall, Biles managed to execute her second vault, a twisting Cheng, with a minor hop to the side. Her combined score for the two vaults in Antwerp, Belgium, averaged 14.549 points.
However, Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade surpassed Biles with an average of 14.75 for her two clean vaults. Although Andrade’s routines were less difficult by seven tenths compared to Biles, she outperformed the American in execution. South Korea’s Yeo Seo-Jeong secured the bronze medal (14.416) with two clean vaults, boasting an average of eight tenths less difficulty than Biles.
Biles secured a medal despite her fall due to the higher start values of her vaults, making them the most challenging in the nine-woman final. However, she faced a half-point deduction on the Yurchenko double pike because her coach was on the mat for safety, which ultimately cost her the gold.
With this achievement, Biles extended her record to a total of 35 combined Olympic and world championship medals, including 28 world medals. Her remarkable consistency in vaulting earned her six career world vault medals, achieved in all six of her appearances at the world championships, second only to Oksana Chusovitina’s nine.
In the same final, Leanne Wong, another American competitor, finished in seventh place. Joscelyn Roberson, who had qualified for the final in sixth place, withdrew due to an ankle injury sustained during warm-up for Wednesday’s team final.
Later in the day, Biles was scheduled to compete in the uneven bars final, the only event where she was not considered a medal favorite. She had qualified fifth for the final and has one career medal on bars, a silver earned in 2018.
The World Gymnastics Championships will conclude on Sunday with five more apparatus finals. Biles is the favorite to win both the women’s balance beam and floor exercise events. The finals will be live-streamed on Peacock at 8 a.m. ET.
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