Olympic medalist Simone Biles breaks another record, is most decorated gymnast in the world
Simone Biles has more medals than the years she’s been on earth.
The 22-year-old gymnast who hails from Columbus, Ohio earned her 24th medal Sunday morning at the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. This particular medal (of the gold variety) was granted to Biles for her agile balance beam performance.
Ahead of this particular win, Biles was tied with Belarusian Olympic medalist Vitaly Scherbo – who competed for the Soviet Union’s Unified Team and Belarus in the 1990s. Scherbo earned his medals during his six-year run.
“When Biles saw her score, a 15.066, a huge grin spread across her face and she jumped out of her seat,” a report from USA Today detailed. “She threw a couple of roundhouse punches before exchanging high fives with coach Laurent Landi.”
The win is her 18th gold at the world championships.
Biles has been participating in the world championships since 2013 and shows no signs of slowing down. A day prior, she snagged her 23rd medal for her vault performance.
Biles competed in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and earned five medals – four of which are gold and one bronze, according to stats from Team USA.
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A demanding sport like gymnastics usually forces competitors to retire young.
“Without sounding condescending to young women, this is a little girl’s sport,” John Geddert, head coach of the 2012 U.S. women’s Olympic team once told the Washington Post. “With their body changes and the wear-and-tear everybody goes through, once they become women, it just becomes very, very difficult.”
During Biles’ 2016 Olympic debut, the four-foot eight-inch powerhouse raked in a reported $2 million from prize money and endorsements, according to E! News. Her sponsorships and endorsements will more than likely see a spike in the run-up to the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which is set to kick off on July 24, 2020.