Simone Biles Emerges Victorious over Suni Lee and Gabby Douglas at Gymnastics Classic

Simone Biles is a champion — again! Just over seven months after becoming the most decorated gymnast of all time, the 27-year-old Texan took home another title on Saturday, May 18, at the 2024 Core Hydration Gymnastics Classic in Hartford, Connecticut. She racked up an impressive all-around score of 59.500, topping the score she earned at last year’s classic (59.1).

Biles dominated the event, which also saw a return to the competition for Suni Lee and Gabby Douglas — marking the first time that three former Olympic all-around gold medalists competed at the same event, according to NBC Sports.

Tokyo Olympics floor exercise gold medalist Jade Carey and team silver medalist Jordan Chiles also competed, as well as Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely, Kayla DiCello, Joscelyn Roberson, Leanne Wong, and Lexi Zeiss.

According to USA Today, Biles’ scores for each event never dipped below 14.55. She posted her highest scores for the vault and floor events, scoring a 15.600 with her self-named Biles II move on the vault. For the first time since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she also completed a triple-twisting double salto on the floor.

“I was just happy to be back out there, get through those nerves again, feel that adrenaline,” she told NBC Sports. “I can’t really complain how the first meet back was.”

Jones, 21, solidified her status as a gymnast-to-watch at Saturday’s event, coming solidly in second place overall, less than two points shy of Biles’ score with a 57.650. She even surpassed Biles on the uneven bars with a score of 15.250.

Douglas, 28, had a difficult night. After competing in just one event — the uneven bars, where she fell twice, and finished with a score of 10.1 — she sat down for a few minutes and then left the floor. She later withdrew from the competition with no reason given.

This meet marked one of Douglas’ first returns to major competition after eight years. Before her appearance at the 2024 American Classic last month, she last competed in 2016, where she won gold at the Rio Olympics.

Lee, meanwhile, completed three events — vault, beam, and floor. The 2020 Olympic all-around champion took home the highest score on beam and finished with a 40.75 total score, qualifying her for the all-around at nationals.

For the 21-year-old Lee, her participation comes more than a year after being diagnosed with two different types of kidney diseases.

According to USA Gymnastics, 2020 Olympians Chiles — who roused fans with her performance on the uneven bars — came in third place all-around with a 55.450. Carey came in fourth with a 54.400, and Blakely, 19, finished just shy of her with a 54.350.

The event also saw some injured athletes — 2022 U.S. all-around champion Konnor McClain withdrew from the meet after injuring her Achilles as she was warming up for the floor.

The classic is one of the last lead-up meets before the U.S. team is selected. One of the next meets, the 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships, is set to take place May 30-June 2 in Fort Worth, Texas. At the competition’s conclusion, the USA Gymnastics national teams will be named, and those athletes will advance to compete at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Gymnastics later in June in Minneapolis.