Germans fall and make mistakes
Gymnast Biles wins 21st World Championship gold with a world record gala
October 6, 2023, 10:35 p.m
Simone Biles is unbeatable again. At the World Championships in Antwerp she won title number 21. As in the team all-around competition, the 26-year-old forgoes her “Biles II” jump. The German gymnasts Sarah Voss and Pauline Schäfer-Betz make a mistake.
Another World Cup triumph – and another world record: The irresistible Simone Biles continues to leave her mark on the World Cup in Antwerp. Two days after winning with the US team, the 26-year-old not only won her 21st title in the all-around competition, she also broke an almost 30-year-old record. With her 34th World Cup medal, the three-time world athlete moved past Vitaly Scherbo (Belarus), who was on the podium 33 times at world championships between 1991 and 1996.
Pauline Schäfer-Betz was also happy – but only with the successful dress rehearsal for the balance beam final on Sunday. Despite a deduction of 0.1 points for exceeding the time limit, the 26-year-old from Chemnitz scored 13.566 points, and her shepherd’s somersault also worked again. “I didn’t come to the World Cup just to be there,” the sports soldier had previously declared confidently.
However, gymnast Biles didn’t assert herself quite as effortlessly as she did with her four all-around titles before her two-year break from competition. After the first round, Kaylia Nemour from Algeria was even ahead before the 1.42 m small exceptional athlete took the lead. The silver medal went to Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, while Biles’ teammate Shilese Jones came third.
Sarah Voss from Cologne won the German duel at a moderate level; Schäfer-Betz even had to leave the area on the ground in a crashing fall and only received 10,700 points. “During my floor exercise I lost my bearings for a moment and of course the points were deducted. But that’s over and done with, now I’m looking forward to the balance beam final on Sunday,” she said. There were also few points for a rather easy jump by the 26-year-old.
Voss was ranked 22nd after two falls on the uneven bars and 10.900 points on the double bar after four apparatus, while Schäfer-Betz had to be content with 24th place and last place. However: Schäfer-Betz won the far more important comparison for a personalized Olympic ticket for Paris 2024 on Monday. As a team, the German team was unable to qualify for the Olympics. The title fights will conclude on Saturday with the first five apparatus finals. Nils Dunkel from Halle, who finished third in last year’s European Championships, also qualified for the medal decision on the pommel horse.