FORT WORTH, Texas — It's not the skills, otherworldly though they may be, that Simone Biles has displayed so regularly for so long that stand out so much anymore, at least not to the ones who know her best.OlympicsShe answered that one as best she could over four peerless routines at the U.S. Championships on Friday night, combining staggering difficulty with breathtaking execution to open up a massive lead and put herself on the cusp of a ninth national title.
“I really feel like she is happy to be here,” said Biles' longtime coach, Cecile Landi. “I know she is ready to be done but I think she’s really enjoying it and appreciating every meet she gets to do.”At 27, married, with a seemingly bottomless supply of medals stashed somewhere in her Houston-area home, Biles could have chosen to get on with the rest of her life.
vault, clasping her hands to her knees as somersaulted backward — twice — before landing with so much force her momentum carried her back a step. Barring injury, she's all but assured of a room in the Olympic Village in late July. The question of which other four women will join her, however, likely won't be sorted out until the waning moments of the Olympic Trials in Minneapolis at the end of June.
Blakely was just 16 when she unexpectedly became eligible for the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics. That run ended with a ruptured elbow at the Olympic Trials. The 19-year-old believes she's in a better place now and it showed. She capped her night with a 15.000 on vault, a score that left her “shocked and excited.”