Upon her return to international competition after two years, Simone Biles had animpressive outing at the 2023 Gymnastics World Championships. The Americanclinched five medals (four gold and one silver), making her the gymnast with themost Olympic and World Championship medals.
While most fans and enthusiasts of the sport were overjoyed to see Biles back toher winning ways, the head coach of the Russian artistic gymnastics team, ValentinaRodionenko, didn’t share the same sentiments.She said that Biles’ routine had no artistic element to it, adding that her winningsolely based on the difficulty of her moves was unmerited. In an interviewwith Match TV, Rodionenko said:
Rodionenko stated that she would take up the issue with the InternationalGymnastics Federation in hopes of a rule change regarding the way judges score aroutine.”We will now submit these questions to the international federation. Whatshould prevail? Beauty and high level of performance while respecting therules. Or will we only follow the path of complexity? So what will artisticgymnastics look like? Surprise with tips? That’s a big question,” she said.”Unfortunately, during these World Championships, we did not see a singlegymnast with a high level of performance. I can only mention the Chinese onthe uneven bars. Disappointment,” she added.
Simone Biles makes history at 2023 WorldChampionships
Simone Biles’ comeback to the world of gymnastics couldn’t have gone smoother.After being on the sidelines since stepping down from competing in the team finalsat the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she has shown that she hasn’t lost her quality in hertime away from the sport.
The 2023 Gymnastics World Championships was her first international competitionin over two years, and the 26-year-old showed everyone that she still has what ittakes to be on top.Biles not only walked away from the event with four golds and a silver medal, butshe also performed the Yurchenko Double Pike successfully, becoming the firstfemale gymnast to do so in an international competition.The move will subsequently be renamed the “Biles Il” in the gymnastics rule book. Itis the fifth move to be named after the American.
