FORT WORTH, Texas – By the time Simone Biles rolled backwards onto the mat on her vault Sunday night, the error didn't even matter. Her lead at the 2024 U.S. championships was so massive, and her eponymous vault so difficult, that her victory was already all but assured.
Biles won her record ninth all-around national title Sunday night, cruising to victory once again at Dickies Arena en route to what will surely be a third trip to the Olympic Games. Over two nights of competition, she recorded the highest score on all four events. And her all-around margin of victory – 5.9 points – was the gymnastics equivalent of a rout.
Biles, 27, will now look ahead to the U.S. Olympic trials at the end of this month – the moment when she will learn who her four teammates on Team USA will be.
"I couldn't be more proud of how I'm doing at this time in the year," Biles said on NBC after her win. "Just gaining that confidence over and over, getting myself back in front of a crowd and just doing what I do in practice."
Skye Blakely, who finished second, was among several women who boosted their candidacies for Paris – displaying the combination of consistency and ability that the selection committee will be seeking as it assembles the 2024 Olympic team.
Suni Lee, the reigning all-around Olympic champion, also had a strong showing – particularly on her two best events, uneven bars and balance beam. On Sunday, she improved her scores on those two apparatuses alone by nearly a full point from Friday's opening round. She finished fourth.
Kayla DiCello (third) and Jordan Chiles (fifth) rounded out the top five.
Here's a recap of everything else you missed on the final night of the 2024 U.S. championships.
Blakely, 19, was perhaps the most impressive gymnast in the senior women's competition Friday night outside of Biles. And she finished just a quarter of a point off that all-around score on Sunday.
Blakely received a thundering ovation when she stepped onto the podium alongside Biles at the end of the night, celebrating one of the biggest moments of her senior career to date in front of what amounts to a hometown crowd; Blakely resides in Frisco, Texas, just a short drive east of Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.
Lee had a disappointing vault to start her Sunday night, sitting down on the landing after appearing to either trip or slip in the run up. But she didn't let it affect her − and thrived on her two most important events.
Though Lee is the reigning all-around Olympic champion, it's her scores on balance beam and uneven bars that would be most valuable to Team USA in Paris. So it was a positive sign that Lee fared well on both events on both nights, finishing second only to Biles on beam and placing fourth on bars − even with a routine that is well short of her top-end difficulty.
After rocking a Beyonce-inspired leotard on Friday night, Chiles arrived on the floor Sunday wearing a white Nike trenchcoat.
A veteran of the 2021 Olympic team and close friend and training partner of Biles', Chiles improved slightly on the second night of competition, earning a silver medal on uneven bars and placing in the top-five on vault. She's hardly a lock to make the Paris team at this point, but she's put herself squarely in the mix.
FORT WORTH, Texas − Moments after competition ended Sunday night, USA Gymnastics announced that it has approved the petitions by Shilese Jones and Kaliya Lincoln to compete at the U.S. Olympic trials later this month.
Jones, who has generally been the second-best U.S. all-arounder behind Simone Biles, withdrew from the U.S. championships with a shoulder injury. Kaliya Lincoln participated in the first two rotations Friday night before bowing out.
They are expected to join Biles, runner-up Skye Blakely and at least eight others at trials, which will take place in Minneapolis starting June 27. − Tom Schad
FORT WORTH, Texas − Winning a ninth U.S. title wasn’t enough for Simone Biles. She won every event, too.
Biles capped her night with a solid routine on uneven bars, her “weakest” event. She flitted effortlessly between the bars and worked quickly going from one skill to the next. She was a little off-center on her upgraded dismount, a double-twisting, double somersault, and needed to take a step to secure herself. But that’s a minor blemish.
She scored a 14.4 and her combined total of 29.050 over the two nights put her in first place on the event ahead of Skye Blakely.
This is the second time Biles has swept all of the titles at nationals. She also did it in 2018. −Nancy Armour
FORT WORTH, Texas − What Simone Biles does is so difficult, her scores are still well above anyone else’s even with an error.
Biles overcooked her Yurchenko double pike, also known as the Biles II on vault, and rolled onto her back. She’d been landing them short in warmups and might have been trying to make sure she didn’t do that when it counted.
No matter. Biles scored a 15, more than a half-point better than anyone else so far Sunday night. Her second vault, a Cheng, was cleaner, with just a small step on the dismount.
Biles has a commanding lead going into the final rotation, uneven bars. −Nancy Armour
FORT WORTH, Texas − Several accomplished veterans have fallen on balance beam tonight, including Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Leanne Wong. But Suni Lee did not join them.
Lee brushed off a few minor wobbles to dramatically improve on her beam score from the first night, putting together a generally clean routine that left her pumping her fists in celebration. Her score of 14.900 was one tenth of a point higher than Simone Biles'.
"I don't want to overstate how big that beam routine was," NBC analyst John Roethlisberger said on air, adding that consistency on bars and beam will be the biggest key for Lee to make it to Paris. − Tom Schad
FORT WORTH, Texas − Simone Biles isn't perfect.
Biles took a small step out of bounds on her first tumbling pass on floor exercise, a triple-twisting double somersault that's also known as the Biles II. Still, this is only the third time she's done her floor routine in competition this year, and it's looking more and more polished each time she does it. Her landings were cleaner and her smiles seemed to be coming more naturally as she did her dance moves. When she stepped into the corner, she looked directly at the camera and flashed a big grin.
Biles' score was a 15.1, just 0.1 lower than it was Friday night. The deduction for stepping out on that first pass was the difference. Still, she's in firm control, and is two more routines from her ninth U.S. title, which would extend her own record. −Nancy Armour
FORT WORTH, Texas − Shilese Jones, who has generally been the second-best all-arounder behind Simone Biles, isn't competing this week because of a shoulder injury. But she was nevertheless in the house Sunday to cheer everyone else on, and she indicated that her shoulder is improving.
"There's been a little bit of progress for today," Jones said in a televised interview on NBC. "I woke up and it's feeling a little bit better than this whole week. It's been a little bit stiff, but some progression today."
Asked about what it's like to take in the national championships from the stands, Jones said she's still nervous.
"I'm shaking for literally everyone," she said. "I'm like, I know they got it, but the nerves are definitely still there." − Tom Schad
FORT WORTH, Texas − Suni Lee was practicing handstands in the entryway of an arena tunnel until moments before her turn on uneven bars, looking a bit unsettled after her disappointing vault. Perhaps noticing that, Simone Biles walked from the other side of the floor to give Lee some words of encouragement. "You got this!" Biles yelled as Lee started her routine.
Lee proceeded to notch a score of 14.500 in what is one of her signature events − two-tenths higher than what she scored on Friday night. She appeared visibly relieved after her dismount, smiling as she shared a hug with coach Jess Graba. − Tom Schad
FORT WORTH, Texas − Suni Lee's night got off to an inauspicious start. The reigning Olympic all-around champion appeared to slip on her vault and then sat down during her landing, resulting in a substantial deduction.
Lee ultimately received a score of 12.150, which was nearly two full points lower than the 14.000 she received on the first night. She then left the floor briefly before returning with Simone Biles, who gave her a hug before they returned to their separate apparatuses. −Tom Schad
FORT WORTH, Texas − Gymnastics is hard. Not that you would realize that from watching Simone Biles.
Biles opened the second night of competition at the U.S. championships on balance beam Sunday night, and she ticked off one big skill after another. The beam is just 4 inches wide and is 4 feet in the air, but Biles looked as if she was standing on flat ground.
The only bobble was a hop forward on her dismount, but it hardly mattered. She scored a 14.8, the same score she got on Friday night when she had the highest mark of the meet on the event. –– Nancy Armour
FORT WORTH, Texas − Tonight's competition is being streamed live on Peacock and NBC... well, mostly anyways.
While the first rotation began at 6:45 p.m. ET, the television coverage wasn't scheduled to begin until 15 minutes later − meaning American television viewers missed out on seeing Simone Biles' routine on balance beam as it happened. They also missed the first performances of the night from Suni Lee (vault), Jordan Chiles (balance beam) and Kayla DiCello (floor exercise), among others. − Tom Schad
Simone Biles will compete in Session 2. That means she, and the other big names on the women's side, will be in action starting at around around 7 p.m. ET on Sunday. — Tom Schad
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The U.S. championships ran from Thursday to Sunday at Dickies Arena, located a few miles west of downtown Fort Worth. — Tom Schad
The second session of senior women's competition, which will feature Simone Biles, will receive the most prestigious television slot: A primetime broadcast window on NBC on Sunday. — Tom Schad
Here are today's windows for coverage on NBC.
She has competed this year. But the announcement of Gabby Douglas’ withdrawing was not a surprise after Douglas' rough outings in her first two competitions since the Rio Olympics in 2016. She fell twice on uneven bars, her signature event, at the American Classic on April 27. She looked better in training ahead of the U.S. Classic on May 18, but scratched after one event after again falling twice on bars. –– Nancy Armour
FORT WORTH, Texas − Kaliya Lincoln has scratched from the second night of competition after departing early Friday night. USA Gymnastics said in a social media post that she has already petitioned for an invitation to the Olympic trials later this month.
Lincoln, 18, earned a a 12.700 on uneven bars and 12.300 on balance beam Friday before withdrawing. Her strongest event is floor exercise, where she finished second only to Simone Biles at last year's national championships. − Tom Schad
Because this weekend's event is the last one before the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials, it is an important showcase for everyone who is hoping to book a ticket to the 2024 Paris Games.
On the women's side, the top two all-around finishers at the U.S. championships will automatically earn a spot at the Olympic trials, where they will be joined by a minimum of 10 other athletes invited at the discretion of USA Gymnastics. Of the 12 or more who compete at the Olympic trials, only five will make Team USA, not including alternates. – Tom Schad
June 27-30 in Minneapolis.
Biles recorded her best all-around score of this Olympic cycle to date: 60.450. It’s the first time Biles has scored above 60 since 2021.
"That was a goal of hers. Very happy with her routines, attitudes — everything was really good," said Cecile Landi, who coaches Biles along with husband Laurent.
USA Gymnastics will be providing live results of the women's competition, including Biles' pursuit of a ninth all-around national championship, on its website here. –– Tom Schad
FORT WORTH, Texas − Gabby Douglas is cheering on her would-be competitors Sunday night.
The three-time Olympic gold medalist took to Instagram earlier in the day to thank fans for their support during her comeback, and send good vibes to the gymnasts at the U.S. championships. Douglas had hoped to be among them, but she announced her withdrawal Wednesday and said in her Instagram post that she’d hurt her foot during training.
“this may be the end of this chapter but not the end of my gymnastics story,” Douglas, the all-around champion at the 2012 Olympics in London, wrote. “thank you all for being with me on this journey and lifting me up on my lowest days i love you all so much!
“sending all the best to the girls tonight! always cheering usa on!” –– Nancy Armour
FORT WORTH, Texas − Trinity Thomas, who returned to elite-level gymnastics this year after her final season at Florida, scratched the last three events on the first night of competition Friday after crashing twice on floor exercise. She warmed up on uneven bars Sunday but did not compete.
Thomas was the NCAA all-around champion in 2002, the same year she won the first of consecutive Honda Sports Awards as the nation's best college gymnast. –– Nancy Armour
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