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In 2013, 16-year-old Simone Biles<\/a> made her Gymnastics World Championships debut in Antwerp, Belgium and brought home her first-ever gold medal. Now, exactly a decade later, she did it again\u2014in the identical city and<\/em> the identical venue, but with rather a lot more hardware under her belt.<\/p>\n On October 4, Biles won her twentieth World\u2019s gold medal in Antwerp as Team USA clinched their record-breaking seventh consecutive title. Her podium finish on the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at age 26 makes her the oldest US woman to earn any World\u2019s medal, in keeping with NBC Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n The event also marks a comeback for Biles: Her appearance in Belgium is her first international competition in two years. She withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021<\/a> resulting from the \u201ctwisties\u201d<\/a>\u2014a potentially dangerous mind-body disconnect during which gymnasts lose spatial awareness midair\u2014and took the time she needed to get well physically and mentally.<\/p>\n \u201cYou sort of should take that mental break, because if not, obviously, your body will determine for you, and that\u2019s what mine did in Tokyo,\u201d Biles told Inside Gymnastics Magazine<\/em><\/a> about her time without work. \u201cIt was the worst timing, but I\u2019m very joyful what happened simply because I got to go and really deal with myself. And I\u2019m still continuing to work on myself.\u201d<\/p>\n During her hiatus from the game, Biles spoke<\/a> candidly about her mental health and the importance of prioritizing her emotional well-being. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to discuss the way you\u2019re doing mentally because it\u2019s an invisible injury,\u201d she told Good Housekeeping<\/em><\/a> in 2022. \u201cPeople can\u2019t see it, so it\u2019s harder to know, but I feel that\u2019s why it\u2019s so essential we feel empowered to open up about it.\u201d<\/p>\n And he or she continued to accomplish that even after she announced her comeback this past summer. When asked how she was handling her return to the game<\/a> in an Instagram Q&A, she wrote \u201cA number of therapy,\u201d per People<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI am going once per week for nearly two hours. I\u2019ve had a lot trauma, so having the ability to work on among the traumas and work on healing is a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n While Worlds aren\u2019t over yet\u2014the all-around final shall be held on Friday and individual events are scheduled over the weekend\u2014the competition has already been a successful one. Beyond her medal count, Biles has also etched her name within the history books for another excuse: Within the qualifying rounds on Sunday, Biles became the primary woman to land the Yurchenko double pike vault in competition. The incredibly difficult combination<\/a>\u2014she performed a roundoff to back handspring onto the apparatus, then flipped twice within the air together with her body folded and legs straight\u2014will now be called the Biles II. It\u2019s the fifth skill<\/a> named after her, joining two on floor, one on beam, and an earlier one on vault.<\/p>\n So yes, there could also be more records broken and medals won this weekend, but that\u2019s not likely the largest driver for Biles at once.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel what success means to me is slightly bit different than before, because before, everyone defined success for me, even when I had my very own narrative that I wanted,\u201d Biles told Olympics.com<\/a> before the World Championships. \u201cSo, now, it\u2019s just showing up, being in head place, having fun on the market, and whatever happens, happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Related:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n