After Simone Biles won her comeback meet with the world’s highest all-around score since the Rio Games, she said most of her routines felt a bit off.
“We’ll just start over,” she said following the U.S. Classic on July 28, her first meet since Rio.
Biles returns this week for the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Boston. History is at stake.
The quadruple Olympic gold medalist can become the first woman to win five U.S. all-around titles, breaking her tie with Joan Moore Gnat since USA Gymnastics began crowning national champions in 1963.
Clara Schroth Lomady won six AAU all-around titles between 1945 and 1952.
Expect Biles to be better than at the U.S. Classic, where she fell off the uneven bars and actually trailed going into the last rotation.
She considered pulling out of the last event, balance beam. But an angry Biles mounted the four-inch-wide crucible and posted the highest score of the night by nearly a point.
“We still have a lot to go,” said Biles, who won by 1.2 points, comfortably extending her five-year win streak. “This was one stepping stone.”
Nationals is a stepping stone, too.
No woman can clinch a spot on the world championships team in two days of competition at TD Garden, but a selection committee will be watching.
The five-woman team for worlds in Doha will be chosen after an October selection camp, typically closed-doors. The top all-arounder at the camp clinches a spot. The committee picks the rest.
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This week’s other all-around contenders:
Morgan Hurd
2017 World champion
2018 American Cup champion
The Harry Potter fanatic who competes in glasses was sixth at this meet a year ago. She was questionable at best to make the four-woman world championships team. But Hurd, coming back from elbow surgery, impressed at a closed-door selection camp to earn a spot at worlds. She then extended the U.S. streak of global all-around champions to seven years, following Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas and Biles. She was third at the U.S. Classic despite a balance beam fall.
Ragan Smith
2017 U.S. champion
2016 Olympic alternate
Smith was the 2017 World all-around favorite until suffering an ankle injury minutes before the final, forcing her to withdraw. The Texan coached by 1991 World all-around champion Kim Zmeskal returned to competition in March, then competed on three of four events at the U.S. Classic, posting the third-highest score on beam.
Riley McCusker
2017 U.S. bronze medalist
2018 U.S. Classic silver medalist
McCusker, from the same New Jersey gym as 2016 Olympic team champion Laurie Hernandez, missed 2017 Worlds due to injury. She returned to all-around competition at the U.S. Classic, where she led Biles going into the last rotation before finishing 1.2 behind.
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