Simone Biles wins Core Hydration Classic; Gabby Douglas withdraws
2024 is looking golden so far for Simone Biles.
HARTFORD, Conn. — 2024 is looking golden so far for Simone Biles.
Biles, the 37-time world and Olympic medalist won the Core Hydration Classic in her first meet of the season. The competition floor in Hartford was star-studded and featured eight Olympic and world championship medalists, including Olympic all-around champions Suni Lee and Gabby Douglas.
Douglas, who is eyeing her third Olympic team at 28 years old, pulled out of the competition after struggling on the uneven bars in the first rotation. She hit a clean set in warmups, but fell twice in the event in competition for a 10.100.
Biles started the meet with a 14.550 on the balance beam, where she is the reigning world champion. On the floor exercise, she competed an eponymous skill — the triple-twisting double salto — for the first time since the qualifying round at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Biles earned the highest score of the entire night — 15.600 — when she performed a Yurchenko double pike on the vault, another skill that bears her name.
She secured the all-around title with a strong showing on the uneven bars for a 14.550.
Rating: 5