American gymnast Simone Biles breaks world record

American Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast in world championship history on Sunday (October 13) when she won the beam and floor finals to take her career tally to 25 medals.

Soon after securing a convincing victory on the beam in Stuttgart to overtake Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo’s record tally of 23 world medals, the 22-year-old Biles successfully defended her floor title to win medal number 25.

The four-time Olympic champion is now the owner of 19 gold medals across four championships against 12 for Scherbo, who competed in five world events between 1991 and 1996.

Making her final appearance of the week in front of a raucous crowd, Biles wasted no time as she landed a superb triple-twisting double back flip — known as the Biles II – on her first pass.

Biles’s double layout with a half turn — another skill named after her — put her out of bounds for a 0.1 penalty but she did enough to post a winning score of 15.133.

The Americans took a one-two finish as Sunisa Lee finished with 14.133 for the silver medal, while Russian Angelina Melnikova came third.

Earlier, Biles delivered a polished routine on the beam before a full twisting double tuck dismount for an impressive 15.066.

Last year’s winner Liu Tingting of China took silver with 14.433, while team mate Li Shijia won the bronze.

Biles finished her campaign in Stuttgart with five gold medals from six events to mark ideal preparations for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Her barnstorming run included a record fifth all-around gold as well as helping the U.S. to a fifth straight world team title.

Nikita Nagornyy won the men’s individual vault final for his third gold medal at the world gymnastics championships in Stuttgart, while team mate Artur Dalaloyan ensured a one-two Russian finish.

Nagornyy scored a total of 14.966 from his two vaults— beating Dalaloyan by a slim margin of 0.033, while Ukraine’s Igor Radivilov took the bronze medal.

The Russian men have enjoyed a memorable week in Stuttgart, winning their first-ever team gold on Wednesday, before Nagornyy collected the all-around title two days later.

Britain’s Joe Fraser won gold in the men’s parallel bars, scoring 15.000 to clinch his maiden world title. Turkey’s Onder Ahmet took the silver with Kaya Kazuma of Japan securing the bronze medal.

In the men’s horizontal bar final, Arthur Mariano of Brazil clinched his first world title, scoring 14.900. The silver medal went to Tin Srbic of Croatia with Russia’s Artur Dalaloyan taking the bronze.