Simone Biles wins record 10th gold at world gymnastics championships

Simone Biles set the record by a female for career gold medals at the world gymnastics championships by winning the balance beam and floor exercise on Sunday.

The 18-year-old now has 10 golds in all, breaking the mark held by Svetlana Khorkina, Gina Gogean and Larisa Latynina.

The three-time all-around champion posted a score 15.358 on beam, more than a point better than silver medalist Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands and bronze medalist Paulin Schaefer of Germany. The margin was nearly as big on floor exercise, where her score of 15.800 beat Russia’s Ksenia Afanaseva by seven tenths. American teammate Maggie Nichols earned a bronze behind her best friend.

The two golds during the event finals gave Biles 14 total medals since she made her debut at the championships in 2013. She has won four gold medals at each of the last two world championships, more than any other country during that span.

Biles joked she was thinking about leading the U.S. women’s team on strike before the team final last week because of a grueling training regimen put together by national team coordinator Martha Karolyi. Biles hardly looked exhausted on the last day of the meet, her beam routine a steady mix of rock-solid tumbling and elegant choreography. While the rest of the eight-woman final struggled on the four-inch wide plank, she was near perfect.

An hour later Biles was at it again. Floor is her favorite event, a 90-second showcase of the athleticism that makes her the LeBron James of her sport. She bounds so high during her tumbling passes she could easily clear good buddy Nichols. So long as she stays inbounds — unlike the wayward step she took in the all-around final — it’s really not a matter of if she’ll win the floor but by how much.

Men’s all-around champion Kohei Uchimura of Japan added a gold in the high bar final, just topping American Danell Leyva and Cuban teenager Manrique Larduet. China’s You Hao topped the field in the parallel bars final, with Oleg Verniaiev of the Ukraine second and Oleg Stepko of Azerbaijan third.

North Korea’s Se Gwang Ri won his second straight gold in men’s vault, edging Romania’s Marian Dragulescu and Donnell Whittenburg of the U.S.