Simone Biles wins third all-around title at World Gymnastics Championships

GLASGOW, Scotland – Simone Biles didn’t look quite like her dominant self on Thursday.

The best gymnast in the world for the past two years, Biles took a step on her vault landing – where she normally sticks – and a bobble on balance beam.

It didn’t matter.

Biles beat reigning Olympic champion Gabby Douglas to win her third consecutive all-around title at the world championships, making her the first ever female gymnast to do so. Russia’s Svetlana Khorkina previously won three, but not in succession.

Biles scored 60.388 to edge out Douglas, her American teammate, by 1.083 points. It was the biggest margin of any of her three titles. Romania’s Larisa Iordache scored 59.10 to take bronze.

"I guess pretty speechless and I just keep blowing my own mind because yes there are goals that I have and then I dream of it and then I make it a reality like I'm just shocked by myself," Biles. "If I could crawl out of my skin and see it, it would be really amazing."

Douglas, meanwhile, became the first reigning Olympic all-around champion to win a medal in the world championships since the Soviet Union’s Elena Davydova in 1981.

While Douglas took time off after winning all-around gold in the London Olympics, Biles became the world's most dominant gymnast.

The Americans showed in their dominating win in the team final that the gap between them and the rest of the world had only grown since London. Their individual all-arounders are a large reason why.

Biles and Douglas started in medal position after vault and stayed there throughout the night.

Douglas looked smooth and effortless on the high bar, where her score of 15.033 was second best of the night. That score moved her from third to second.

Biles, meanwhile, landed the best vault of the night to put her in first. Though she lost balance on a front flip on the balance beam, she was able to prevent a fall. She even stepped out on floor.

But her mistakes so minor and the difficulty of her routines so great, no one could catch her. Again.

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