Simone Biles soars despite having weight of history on her at worlds

ANTWERP, Belgium − Every day at these world championships carries the weight of history for Simone Biles.

A team title would give the U.S. women seven in a row, a record streak for both men and women. An all-around medal on top of that, no matter the color, would be her 34^th at the world championships and Olympics, making Biles the most-decorated gymnast ever, male or female.

And on Sunday, she became the first woman to do the Yurchenko double pike at a major international meet. The vault, so difficult few men even try it, will now be named for Biles in the women’s scoring system.

“There’s a lot of eyes on her right now, trying to see if she still has it,” coach Laurent Landi said. “She needed to do it for herself. I think the podium training helped a lot to make her believe she’s still capable of handling her nerves. And she showed it today.

“I was very, very impressed the way her – and not just her, the whole team – deal with pressure.”

Biles leads the all-around rankings with a 58.865, and she and the rest of the U.S. women — Skye Blakely, Shilese Jones, Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong — are atop the team standings by a wide margin at 171.395 points. And even with another full day of qualifying still to come Monday, no one's going to bump Biles or the Americans from their top spots.

But just because you do what people expect you to doesn’t mean you aren’t still apprehensive before it happens.

This is Biles’ first major international meet since the Tokyo Olympics, where rising anxiety from the expectations on her and the isolation of the COVID restrictions brought on a case of “the twisties.” Unable to tell where she was in the air, she withdrew from all but one final.

It's also only her fourth meet total since Tokyo. She came back at the U.S. Classic in early August, followed by the national championships at the end of that month. Then the world team selection camp two weeks ago.

Sure, Biles has been doing this for a decade. Her first world title came in 2013 in this very arena, in fact. But that is a long time to be on top in a sport where the line between success and failure can be a matter of millimeters.

So Biles and her team try to make it all seem as normal as possible. Even when they know it’s really not.

“It’s just another meet. Nothing special, just another meet. Just do another routine,” Landi said. “The environment is different, but the job should be exactly the same. Same as in practice.”

Biles and the Americans started on uneven bars which, despite being her “weakest” event, might actually have been a good thing. Biles has been struggling with one of her release moves, falling on it at the selection meet. But there wasn’t even the hint of trouble Sunday, with her 14.4 the second-highest score of the day.

The entire U.S. team had a strong showing — Jones’ 14.833 is the score to beat, and the U.S. total of 43.366 is more than 1½ points better than anyone else — and they were off and running.

“That put us ahead for all the other events and gave them confidence,” Landi said. “Made them decide to do exactly what they’ve been doing in practice.”

Indeed, Biles looked relieved when she finished. Just as she did after balance beam.

Biles’ beam routine is jam-packed with difficulty, but she is practically nonchalant as she checks off one skill after another. It’s almost as if she’s saying, “Oh, you thought that was nice? Here, how about this?” Her score of 14.566 was more than a half-point higher than Jones, who isn’t exactly a slouch on the event.

Even with hops on some of her landings, Biles was her usual stellar self on floor exercise. That left only vault, the event the packed audience at the Sportspaleis had come to see.

The Yurchenko double pike is so difficult because it has no bailout. Be even the slightest off on the block or in the air, and a gymnast is likely to land on his or her neck or head. It also takes an incredible amount of power to do two somersaults in a piked position, as you can see by how tightly Biles grips her thighs as she rotates.

But she has it nearly perfected, the only flaw the step back she had to take to control her landing. Even with a half-point deduction for Landi standing on the mat for safety reasons, Biles scored a 15.266.

“People I hope realize that's maybe one of the last times you're going to see a vault like that in your life from a woman gymnast,” Landi said. “So I think it's time to appreciate it."

Appreciate all of it. Because there will come a day, sooner rather than later, when Biles will be gone, the only thing left the history she has made.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.