Simone Biles achieves remarkable silver medal in vault at gymnastics worlds, overcoming challenging fall

Simone Biles Secures Silver Medal Despite Fall at World Gymnastics Championships

Simone Biles, the top qualifier and a clear favorite, demonstrated her exceptional skill and difficulty level but fell during her Yurchenko double pike, a move that has been named after her internationally. However, she landed her second vault, a twisting Cheng, with a minor hop to the side. Biles achieved an average score of 14.549 for her two vaults in Antwerp, Belgium.

Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade surpassed Biles with a higher execution score, earning an average of 14.75 for her two clean vaults. Although Andrade had a lower difficulty level compared to Biles, her flawless execution propelled her to take the lead.

Yeo Seo-Jeong of South Korea earned the bronze medal with two clean vaults and a lower difficulty level than Biles. Despite Biles’ fall, her challenging start values for her vaults allowed her to secure a medal.

With this performance, Biles has now accumulated a total of 35 Olympic and world championships medals, including 28 world medals. Her remarkable achievements also include six world vault medals, second only to Oksana Chusovitina’s nine.

Other notable performances by the American team include Leanne Wong, who finished seventh, and Joscelyn Roberson, who unfortunately withdrew due to an ankle injury sustained in warm-up. The U.S. team also secured medals in pommel horse and uneven bars events.

Although Biles placed fifth on bars, it remains the only apparatus where she is not considered a medal favorite. However, she did win world silver in the same event in 2018.

The gymnastics world championships will conclude on Sunday with five more apparatus finals. Biles is widely expected to dominate in the balance beam and floor events. Fans can watch the finals live on Peacock at 8 a.m. ET.