Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade hugged at the end of their routine and wished each other good luck before they began. Two rivals but companions. A head-to-head race between the Brazilian star and the American legend. They faced each other for the first time at the 2016 Rio Games, and the two great gymnasts met again at the World Championships in Antwerp, marking Biles’ return in style. The American won the gold medal on balance beam (14.800) and floor (14.633) and added a total of five metal medals – four gold and one silver – in the championships. The two-year absence due to his mental health problems had no impact on his performance level. On the other hand. For his part, Andrade placed third on beam (14.300) and second on floor (14.500). Gold on vault went to Jake Jarman (15.050), on parallel bars to Lukas Dauser (15.400) and on parallel bars to Daiki Hashimoto (15.233).
The final day of the World Cup was full of unknowns. The big surprise came when world jumping champion Artur Davtyan turned around too early, landed forward – almost landing under the colt – and lost his chance at the podium. And although Khoi Young (silver with 14.849) debuted the jump with a very high bar and Ukraine’s Nazar Chepurnyi (bronze with 14.766) and Igor Radivilov fought for third place, Jake Jarman focused on an (almost) perfect jump and took the win Gold with 15,050.
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But the tension on the balance beam grew. Shilese Jones – bronze in the all-around –, Zhan Qingying and Pauline Schaefer-Betz fell. The jury took a while to announce the results and the speaker asked the audience if there were any Americans present. Next came Biles. The world champion’s love for the device manifested itself in a great exercise with an enormous level of difficulty (6.5). Three connected jumps while climbing the crossbar. Three 360 degree rotations. Seriously, Biles made it seem like the 4-inch bar was the sturdiest. He completed his exercise in just one minute and seven seconds. And as he left, he smiled and hugged his coach for his 14,800.
Andrade was still left. The Brazilian came into the game with great width, but stumbled slightly at the end of the crossbar. After an exercise in precision and power, it performed a powerful landing upon landing. But she couldn’t beat Biles or Zhou Yaqin – silver with 14.700 – and finished third (14.300). She was happy and smiled. Biles adjusted the collar of his jacket before walking to the podium, where they met back on the floor.
At the same time, there was no room for surprises. Lukas Dauser, vice world champion in 2022 and also an Olympian, left no doubt: very few mistakes and a great exercise. As he fell, he screamed, raised his arms in the air and celebrated the gold medal as the pavilion celebrated its 15,400th. place stood up. Silver went to Shi Cong (15,066) and bronze to Kaito Sugimoto (15,000). The fixed benchmark was decided at the last moment: victory went to Hashimoto (15.233), silver to Tin Srbic (14.700) and bronze to Su Weide (14.500).
And Biles and Andrade met again on the floor. The American radiated strength on the mat and completed extremely difficult exercises to the rhythm of the applause. But with her Biles I element, the force caused her to lift a foot off the mat upon landing. When he was finished, he wished Andrade good luck. He had just scored a 14.633 with a massive difficulty rating of 6.7. A note that the Brazilian, full of dynamism and with the audience and their empathy in their pockets, could not beat. With silver around her neck, she scored 14,500 points, while her compatriot Flavia Saraiva came third (13,966).
Biles listened to her country’s anthem with her hand on her heart. It was his 30th medal in 33 World Championships, in which he won 23 titles. She is characterized by her strength. Her 142 centimeters of height are transformed into meters in her jumps, which cast a large shadow: that of the best gymnast in history. All eyes are on the 2024 Paris Olympics. The World Cup is over, but the countdown begins.
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