The queen is here. The American Simone Biles, returning to competition after two years off, won her 22nd world title by being crowned on the beam, Sunday at the World Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, less than ten months before the Olympic Games from Paris.
Biles, already titled in the team and all-around competitions during the week, obtained an exceptional score of 14.800, closely followed by the young 17-year-old Chinese Zhou Yaqin (14.700). The Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, who had beaten Biles the day before in the vault final, completed the podium (14.300).
During a high-level final, the American performed acrobatics without moving a millimeter on the apparatus. But her title was decided by very little, as the Chinese Zhou was so impressive in her lightness. Gold only escaped the latter due to a step back taken at the exit of the beam, penalized by a tenth of a point.
Biles now has 22 world titles for 29 medals. It marks a breathtaking return to the international level, two years after the grueling Tokyo Olympics marked by the episode of “twisties”, these brutal and unpredictable losses of any reference in space. She then stopped working out completely and only returned to competition last August in the United States.