Simone Biles is the greatest gymnast of our time – or any time in history. She proved that Sunday at the World Championships, where she raked in her 24th and 25th world medals, both gold.
Biles, 22, took home five of the six golds to be won in Stuttgart, Germany, winning the top of the podium in team competition, all-around, and vault in addition to floor and beam. (On the uneven bars, she took fifth.)
Combining skills of unprecedented difficulty with flawless execution, Biles surpassed Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo’s record 23 world medals he won in the 1990s.
A gold on the balance beam evaded Biles at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, and so she has her eyes on that prize next summer in Tokyo. The goal that appeared well within reach with her rock-solid performance on Sunday. She won the beam competition by more than half a point – even though she opted not to perform the difficult dismount that’s named for her, a double twisting double back.
The dismount, called the Biles, became the subject of controversy in the days before the world championships.