USA gymnastics finished the week at the World Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium with plenty of success.
Team USA began their medal campaign with the men’s team final, where the US looked to win their first team medal since 2014. After qualifying in second place for the finals, the team began on the floor. The US started with three hit routines and scored a 42.698, the highest score of any team on that apparatus. Despite the strong start, the men struggled in their second rotation on pommel horse, which made a spot on the podium seem difficult. However, the team rallied on rings, vault, and parallel bars, and headed into the final rotation with a medal in sight. The event concluded with a clutch high bar routine from newcomer Frederick Richard, to secure team USA the bronze medal.
The women’s team eyed their seventh consecutive world title, a title they seemed poised to gain after qualifying nearly five points ahead of second place Great Britain. However, the road to gold was not so easy for the Americans. The competition began with an injury to Joscelyn Roberson on her vault warm up, moments before the meet began. Leanne Wong was originally scheduled to only compete on balance beam, but rushed to replace Roberson on vault with minimal warmup. Despite Roberson’s injury, the team went cleanly through their first two rotations on vault and uneven bars. The only major mistake occurred during Wong’s beam routine, where she took a rough fall on her opening skill. The fall did not affect the teams standings. Simone Biles cemented the team’s seventh consecutive title with a fantastic floor routine that scored a massive 15.166.
In the men’s individual all-around final, Frederick Richard seemed to be the best chance for an American medal. After finishing sixth in qualifying, he was up against many strong contenders to medal. Richard seamlessly moved through his first five rotations, which included the highest score on floor exercise, a stuck vault, and a near flawless parallel bars routine. He entered the final rotation in second place. A hit routine on his strongest event, the high bar would earn him the silver medal. Richard fell, and the medal seemed out of reach until another competitor also fell. The dramatic finish ended with Richard earning a bronze medal, the first all-around medal for a U.S man since 2010.
Two Americans, Simone Biles and Shilese Jones went into the all-around final with medals in reach. They seamlessly moved through each apparatus, while a majority of their competitors made major mistakes. Rebecca Andrade of Brazil was the only gymnast who was able to challenge the Americans. In the final rotation, the three gymnasts all performed solid floor routines. The competition concluded with Jones winning the bronze medal, Andrade the silver, and Biles winning her sixth world all-around title.
The final event of the World Championships was the individual event finals. American Khoi Young won a silver medal on the pommel horse and vault. Shilese Jones won a bronze medal on uneven bars, her sixth world medal. Simone Biles won silver on vault after falling on her signature vault named after her. Biles won gold on both balance beam and floor exercise. These results helped her achieve a record setting 37 world and Olympic medals, making her the most decorated gymnast of all time.