Simone Biles breaks gymnastic medals record at World Championships
"The medal record? I'm not a number person," said 22-year-old Biles after surpassing Vitaly Scherbo's record
Sunday 13 October 2019 17:08, UK
Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast at World Championships after claiming two more golds on Sunday in Stuttgart.
Biles, 22, won her 24th medal on the beam, surpassing the Belarusian men's gymnast Vitaly Scherbo's record, and added her 25th - 18 of which have been gold - less than two hours later in the floor exercise.
"I can't be more thrilled with the performance that I put out at this world championships," Biles said. "The medal record? I'm not a number person."
Biles scored 15.066 on the beam after a near-flawless routine, opting for a simpler dismount than the double-double she performed earlier in the championships.
China took silver and bronze with Liu Tingting on 14.433 and Li Shijia on 14.3, respectively.
Biles won the floor exercise by a full point, scoring 15.133 despite a step out of bounds on one pass. Her US team-mate Sunisa Lee took silver, her third medal of the championships, while Angelina Melnikova took bronze for Russia.
Her winning routine came after a long wait when Brazilian gymnast Flavia Saraiva requested an inquiry into her score, during which time Biles sat on the edge of the floor.
Biles has won five events at these world championships after claiming team gold on Tuesday, individual all-around gold on Thursday and vault gold on Saturday.
A fifth place on uneven bars Saturday ended Biles' chances of winning a medal in all six events, which she did last year in her comeback world championships after a sabbatical in 2017.
Biles hasn't confirmed whether she'll continue to compete after next year's Olympics, so this could be her last world championships.
Of her 24 career world medals, 18 are gold, against 12 of 23 for Scherbo.
Earlier, Russia's Nikita Nagornyy won the men's vault for this third gold medal of the championships. He's the first European man to win the vault since 2010.
Nagornyy scored an average 14.966 from his two vaults, beating his friend and Russian team-mate Artur Dalaloyan into second place. The bronze went to Ukraine's Igor Radivilov.
The 38-year-old Romanian Marian Dragulescu, a four-time world champion, secured qualification for his fifth Olympics by placing fourth.
Britain won its second gold of the championships as Joe Fraser scored 15 points to win on parallel bars. Ahmet Onder was second for Turkey, with Japan's Kazuma Kaya third. Max Whitlock won Britain's first gold medal Saturday on pommel horse.
