Simone Biles won two more gold medals to wrap the most successful Olympics or World Championships by an American woman ever Sunday. Biles also led the U.S. to top the overall medal standings in Nanning, China.
Biles, 17, won the vault and floor exercise finals Sunday. She finished her second Worlds with four gold medals and one silver medal. Biles is the first U.S. woman to win five medals or four gold medals at a single Worlds.
She now has nine career Worlds medals in two appearances, one behind the U.S. record of 10 by Alicia Sacramone, who competed in five World Championships. Biles should be expected to break Sacramone’s record at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
Also Sunday, Americans Danell Leyva and Jacob Dalton added parallel bars silver and vault bronze medals, respectively.
The U.S. totaled 10 medals in Nanning and won the overall Worlds medal count for a second straight year. It bagged 12 medals in 2013. Its high before that was nine at the 2005 World Championships, where all of the medals were won by the women.
China led the medal count at every Worlds and Olympics (artistic gymnastics only) from 2006 through 2012.
In her first event Sunday, Biles won a balance beam final littered with falls and major errors with a contrastingly clean 15.1 routine. Biles upgraded her beam bronze medal from 2013. China’s Bai Yaiwen took silver this year with 15.033, followed by Russian Aliya Mustafina. U.S. Olympic team champion Kyla Ross was sixth.
Mustafina, whose routine lacked a required element that cost her a half-point, earned 14.166, the lowest score to win an Olympics or World Championships medal since the new code of points was implemented in 2006.
Biles came back to win floor exercise about 90 minutes later, repeating as World champion on the event. Romania’s Larisa Iordache took silver behind Biles, just as she did in the all-around Friday. Mustafina earned bronze, relegating American MyKayla Skinner to fourth.
Epke Zonderland earned a standing ovation with a high-flying high bar routine to repeat as World champion after winning 2012 Olympic gold as well. Japan’s Kohei Uchimura won silver, his third medal of the meet and 16th career Worlds medal.
Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev prevailed on parallel bars, ahead of Leyva, who won the World title on the event in 2011. Another American, Donnell Whittenburg, was seventh.
North Korea’s Ri Se Gwang won the men’s vault, dethroning reigning Olympic and World champion Yang Hak Seon of South Korea.
Dalton captured bronze, adding to his team bronze from Tuesday. Dalton also won team bronze at the 2011 World Championships and floor exercise silver in 2013.
Balance Beam
Gold: Simone Biles (USA) -- 15.1 -- 2013 World bronze medalist
Silver: Bai Yawen (CHN) -- 15.033
Bronze: Aliya Mustafina (RUS) -- 14.166 -- 2013 World champion
4. Asuke Teramoto (JPN) -- 14.1
5. Larisa Iordache (ROU) -- 14.066
6. Kyla Ross (USA) -- 13.866
7. Ellie Black (CAN) -- 13.7
8. Yao Jinnan (CHN) -- 13.366 -- 2011 World silver medalist
Women’s Floor Exercise
Gold: Simone Biles (USA) -- 15.333 -- 2013 World champion
Silver: Larisa Iordache (ROU) -- 14.8 -- 2013 World bronze medalist
Bronze: Aliya Mustafina (RUS) -- 14.733 -- 2012 Olympic bronze medalist; 2010 World silver medalist
4. MyKayla Skinner (USA) -- 14.7
5. Vanessa Ferrari (ITA) -- 14.666 -- 2013 World silver medalist; 2006 World bronze medalist
6. Larrissa Miller (AUS) -- 14.233
7. Erika Fasana (ITA) -- 13.9
8. Claudia Fragapane (GBR) -- 13.1
Parallel Bars
Gold: Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) -- 16.125
Silver: Danell Leyva (USA) -- 15.933 -- 2011 World champion
Bronze: Ryohei Kato (JPN) -- 15.666
4. Deng Shudi (CHN) -- 15.633
5. Yusuke Tanaka (JPN) -- 15.041
6. Cheng Ran (CHN) -- 14.866
7. Donnell Whittenburg (USA) -- 14.366
8. Nikolai Kuksenkov (RUS) -- 13.666
Men’s Vault
Gold: Ri Se Gwang (PRK) -- 15.416 -- 2007 World bronze medalist
Silver: Igor Radivilov (UKR) -- 15.333
Bronze: Jacob Dalton (USA) -- 15.199
4. Kenzo Shirai (JPN) -- 15.062
5. Sergio Sasaki Junior (BRA) -- 15.016
6. Shek Wai Hung (HKG) -- 14.999
7. Yang Hak Seon (KOR) -- 14.416 -- 2012 Olympic champion; 2011, 2013 World champion
8. Denis Abliazin (RUS) -- 14.116 -- 2012 Olympic silver medalist
High Bar
Gold: Epke Zonderland (NED) -- 16.225 -- 2012 Olympic champion; 2013 World champion; 2009, 2010 World silver medalist
Silver: Kohei Uchimura (JPN) -- 15.725 -- 2011, 2013 World bronze medalist
Bronze: Marijo Moznik (CRO) -- 15
4. Nile Wilson (GBR) -- 14.766
5. David Belyavskiy (RUS) -- 14.733
6. Nikolai Kuksenkov (RUS) -- 14.533
7. Zhang Chenglong (CHN) -- 14.366 -- 2010 World champion; 2011 World silver medalist
8. Jossimar Calvo Moreno (COL) -- 13.3
