By Will Graves, Associated Press
There used to be a time when Simone Biles would find “beauty in the blindness” ahead of the Olympics, reveling in not knowing what she didn’t know. And maybe that’s the biggest difference between the national title the gymnastics star won on the night of June 2nd— her ninth, this one with an all-around total of 119.750 — and her first over a decade ago.
The defining moment of Biles’ victory wasn’t a twist, a turn or a jump, but a walk.
Biles is at a stage in her unparalleled career where the joy she gets from the sport is no longer centered strictly on the quality of her performance.
While she joked that she believes she’s “aging like fine wine,” it’s telling that she saved her biggest smile afterward when talking about the five World Champions Centre teammates — most of them a decade younger — who will join her at Olympic trials in Minneapolis later this month.
“That’s kind of what excites me because I think they have long careers ahead of them,” Biles said. “So if I can do anything to help them, right now and in the future, that’s what I’m going to do.”
It’s her way of giving back. She is well aware of the spotlight that awaits her in Paris and is trying to set an example for others on how to navigate the pressure that lies ahead. She’s become a regular in therapy — now even during meet weeks — and is determined to focus on what she can control.
Like say, her gymnastics.
In front of an audience that included her husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, Biles put on a four-rotation clinic that featured all the trademarks of a typical Biles performance. There was jaw-dropping athleticism mixed with precision and more than a splash of swagger.
Biles finished with the highest two-day score on all four events, something she’d done only once before at nationals (2018).
Her only misstep on June 2nd came on vault. She came up short on her Yurchenko double pike — two back flips with her hands clasped behind her knees — during warmups and overcompensated when it counted, generating so much force she wound up on her back. She still received a 15.000 for her effort, a testament to a vault that’s never been completed in competition by another woman and only attempted by a select group of men.
Not that it bothered her. Biles collected herself, took a couple of deep breaths then followed it up with a Cheng vault that was rewarded with a 15.1 and put a ninth national title within reach. No other gymnast in the history of the sport in the U.S. has more than seven.
While Biles remains above the fray as usual, there is plenty of competition for the other four spots on the five-women U.S. team that will head to Paris as heavy favorites to return to the top of the podium after finishing second to Russia in Tokyo three years ago.
Olympians Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey are in the mix, though both endured falls on beam on Sunday, June 2nd. Third-place finisher Kayla DiCello slipped off the uneven bars.
Then there’s Shilese Jones, considered the best all-around gymnast in the U.S. without the last name Biles, pulled out of the championships on Friday, May 31st, citing a shoulder injury though she said on June 2nd she was feeling better and plans to be available for trials.
Biles’ ticket is essentially punched. Same as it ever was.
