Gymnast Simone Biles First To Win Four Straight National Championships In 42 Years

Simone Biles cruised through the 2016 U.S. P&G Gymnastics Championships in St. Louis on Sunday ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.

Simone Biles First To Win Four Straight National Championships In 42 Years

By the end of the championships at Chafitz Arena, so many gold medals hung around Simone Biles’ neck that when she walked, they hit each other so loudly it made her giggle.

“I always have so much fun,” the 19-year-old, three-time defending U.S. all-around gymnastics champion said after winning her fourth national title. Her score of 125 points beat runner-up Aly Raisman by 3.9 points. Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian rounded out the top five.

Biles, who was named USA Gymnastics Athlete of the Year following Sunday’s competition, became the first woman to win four consecutive U.S. all-around titles since Joan Moore Gnat in 1971-74.

The 4-foot-8 star also posted the top scores over two nights of competition in the balance beam, floor exercise and vault. She now boasts 11 national titles since joining the senior level in 2013.

“People think you have to be serious to do a good job,” Biles said. “But I think if you’re having fun, you can do better. You can look back someday and say, wow, I had a good time instead of being so stressed out.”

The top American women will next move on to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on July 8 and 10 in San Jose, California. This competition will determine which four gymnasts join Biles at the Rio Games.

The Spring, Texas native has outmatched not simply her U.S. counterparts but all of gymnastics over the last three years.

Biles entered the second night of competition with a 2.45-point all-around lead and rapidly built on it. Beginning on floor exercise, an event in which she’s the three-time defending world champion, she powered through a challenging routine to score 16.05, which was just short of her 16.1 score on Friday, but still well above the field. Raisman, the defending Olympic champion in the event, finished second with a best score of 15.7.

Biles then performed a 2.5-twist on the Amanar vault, making it seem an easy task. Only a small hop on the landing prevented her from getting a perfect 10 score. She ended up receiving a 9.9 on execution and a final total score of 16. That matched her score from Friday and was 0.5 points higher than the next-best score this weekend, again by Raisman.

From there, Biles comfortably made it through her final two events, uneven bars and floor exercise.

“She’s definitely on top of my list,” said U.S. women’s national team coordinator Martha Karolyi when asked where she would rank Biles on the list of top gymnasts in history. “She’s a great combination of physical abilities and strong mind. Oh, that’s what we want. That’s a package!”

The other U.S. gymnasts joke that Biles is in her own class, therefore second place is still the winner.

Raisman is fighting to maintain that position.

The 22-year-old is rounding back into Olympic contender form after returning to the sport last season. She had the second-best scores on the weekend in beam, floor and vault, and is a clear favorite to join Biles in Rio.

Douglas, the defending Olympic all-around champion, returned to competition with Raisman last season, but after a strong start to the 2016 season she struggled in St. Louis.

Ashton Locklear won the remaining event title, uneven bars, with a two-day score of 31.3.