Biles leads U.S. women to record at world championships
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SAMUEL PETREQUIN
AP Sports Writer
ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) — Simone Biles and her teammates were far from perfect, and yet nothing could stand in the way of a victory that set a record for both the U.S. women’s team and the greatest gymnast in history.
The U.S. women earned a record seventh consecutive team title at the gymnastics world championships on Wednesday night. For Biles, it was also her 33rd major championship medal — across the worlds and Olympics — to make her the most decorated female gymnast ever.
“It wasn’t Team USA’s best day,” Biles said. “It’s crazy, we still pulled it out. So I’m really, really proud of the team.”
The American team of Biles, Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely, Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong combined for a total of 167.729 points to edge second-place Brazil and France.
The U.S. team won by a margin of 2.199 points as the final proved to be a closer contest than anticipated after the Americans put up a dominant performance in qualifying to finish more than five points ahead of the field.
The U.S. women have won gold in the team event at every world championship that included a team competition since 2011. Their victory in Antwerp broke a tie with the Chinese men for the longest streak of consecutive team titles.
