“I use the expression 'it ages like a fine wine,'” Biles said. “It's just getting better and better. We'll see what happens. Hopefully I can carry it through the rest of the year.”
With each successive performance, Biles has proven she's better than ever. The 27-year-old finished with a total score of 119.750 points, nearly six points ahead of runner-up Skye Blakely's 113.850. Biles won gold medals in all four events, a reminder that despite her struggles in Tokyo three years ago, she's poised to win more gold medals in Paris this summer.
Biles makes the world's most difficult routines look effortless, performing them consistently and without error. Her only mistake over the two days of competition came on Sunday night when she tumbled backwards on a difficult Yurchenko double pike vault, resulting in a one-point deduction and her only fall of the season. Other than that, she was outstanding.
Biles didn't come back after Tokyo with a simpler, safer routine — she came back even better.
This is all about Biles competing against herself. If she can be the best gymnast in the world for years and still win a national title after making some big mistakes, then so be it. After last month's U.S. Classic, Biles asked her coach, Cecil Lundy, if she had broken the all-around record of 60.000 meters, something no woman had managed to do this Olympic season. Biles came up just short, with 59.500. Making that leap became her goal, despite the short time between her season debut and the national championships. She eclipsed that mark with 60.450 meters on the first day of women's competition here.
Randi acknowledged that Friday was probably Biles' best competition, but was quick to add, “It's not about technique. It's about her attitude and her demeanor. I think she's really happy to be here. I know she says she wants to be done, but I think she's really enjoying herself and appreciating every competition she gets to compete in.”
A fall on vault lowered her overall score Sunday, but in other events Biles repeated the strong performance from two days earlier.
Her poise is the result of training in and out of the gym. Biles has emphasized her commitment to therapy and how hard work over the past year has stabilized her. She cycles around the arena, delivering one stunning performance after another, unfazed by the cheers and screams that accompany her every move.
“It took a lot of work, both mentally and physically, to believe in my gymnastics again and most importantly to believe in myself,” she said. “I think the hardest part was not believing in myself enough to do gymnastics after Tokyo.”
But now she's back to performing routines just as difficult as those she performed leading up to the Tokyo Olympics.
Biles' floor routine is the highlight of any competition she competes in. She starts by leaping into the air, flipping twice, and twisting perfectly three times. It's one of the most difficult moves in women's gymnastics, and Biles landed perfectly straight, with only a small error of one step out of place. She received an overall difficulty score of 7.1, meaning her highest score was 17.100, while many others are happy to receive scores around 14.000. When the best gymnasts in the world performed on the floor final at last year's World Championships, the average difficulty score for the rest of the gymnasts was 5.6.
These complex routines always give Biles an advantage. The scores show she is in a class of her own. Biles scored 15.200 and 15.100 on floor exercise, but only two other skaters managed to reach 14.000. Biles landed a Yurchenko double pike and had a similar advantage on this event.
Some skaters look at the season as a months-long process toward their best performance. Not Biles. Of course, Randi sees ways Biles can improve — how to improve her artistry on the floor, how to land her handstands on bars more precisely, how to connect her vaults more consistently on the balance beam. But with two months until Paris, Biles should be a breeze to win the Olympic all-around this weekend. It's a formula that's been winning Biles for years. She never takes things easy. She excels in tournament after tournament, year after year.
“She needs to build confidence, and competing well helps her build confidence,” Lundy said. “It's going to build up for her, and that's how it works.”
Biles has two more performances at the Olympic Trials before heading to Paris, where she will face pressure and scrutiny she hasn't experienced since Tokyo. Images of her flying after a false vault, exiting the Olympic arena and watching from the sidelines will once again come to the forefront. Nothing she experiences over the next two months will compare to the stress she will experience in Paris, but each strong performance will give her more confidence before the ultimate test at the end.
“I've been to two Olympics and every time I go I'm a little more stressed because I know exactly what to expect,” Biles said. “I know exactly what to expect from myself.”
