Opinion: Simone Biles, US women would be envy of some royal families for all their titles
STUTTGART, Germany — There are royal families with fewer titles than Simone Biles, and she’s about to add to the collection.
The U.S. women are heavy favorites to win the team title at the world championships Tuesday night — their record-tying fifth in a row, for those of you keeping score. It would give Biles her 21st medal at the world championships, breaking a tie with Russia’s Svetlana Khorkina for most by a female gymnast.
Win three more — Biles has qualified for every event final as well as the all-around — and she becomes the most-decorated gymnast at worlds, male or female.
“I never think about the records,” Biles said at the national championships in August. “I honestly don’t know that I’m breaking a record until somebody brings it up to me.”
Biles has played a significant role in the U.S. women’s current run of dominance, accounting for at least a 2-point advantage in the Americans' winning margins over the Russians or Chinese. In a sport where medals are often decided by tenths, and sometimes hundredths, of a point, having her is a massive advantage.
But what makes the Americans so formidable is that they’re not a one-woman show.
In the “Simone Era,” the Americans have won three world titles and an Olympic gold by 6.6 points or more. (The current winning streak started at the 2011 worlds, when Biles was still a junior.)
That means other gymnasts have stepped up, be it Kyla Ross, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian or Morgan Hurd. At these worlds, Biles is getting backup from Jade Carey, Kara Eaker and first-year senior Sunisa Lee.
The contributions of these other gymnasts are essential, particularly given the scoring format in team finals.
In qualifying, four gymnasts compete on each event, and a country drops its lowest score. In team finals, however, it’s three-up, three-count. Botch a routine, or have to use someone who can only post a mediocre score, and it puts a country in a hole.
Biles gives the Americans a cushion, and a significant one, but she’s only one score. Her teammates ensure the Americans will have at least one, and often two, more big ones.
“We’re all just working toward the one goal,” Carey said.
And putting a dagger in Russia and China’s hopes for an upset in the process.
As the top team in qualifying, the Americans start team finals on vault. Biles is the reigning world and Olympic champion on the event, while Carey leads the World Cup standings. (She actually scored better than Biles in qualifying.)
Add in a solid score from Grace McCallum, and the Americans have the potential of finishing their first event almost two points ahead of China and Russia.
Think about that. Pretty much from the moment the meet starts, the Americans have China and Russia on their heels and playing catch up.
Russia does have the potential to go higher than the United States on uneven bars and China can do the same on balance beam. But neither can score enough to erase the lead the Americans build up in the first event.
Even if they do, the Americans finish up on floor, where they have the potential for another monstrous scoring advantage.
Biles is the reigning world and Olympic champion on this event, too, while Carey also tops the World Cup rankings for floor. Lee posted the same score as Carey in qualifying, edging her for the second spot in the event final because of better execution.
“We’ve always known she’s brilliant on bars and beam … but she also just moves so fluidly,” national team coordinator Tom Forster said of Lee after the U.S. championships. “She’s really coming into her full potential.”
And that's the secret to the Americans' reign. There's always another spectacular talent waiting to take her turn, and claim a title of her own.
Follow Paste BN Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.