© John Cheng

NANNING, China, Oct. 10, 2014 – Simone Biles of Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre, won her second consecutive World all-around title at the 2014 World Championships at the Guangxi Sports Center Gymnasium in Nanning, China. She is the first woman to have back-to-back World all-around titles since Svetlana Khorkina (2001, 2003). Kyla Ross of Aliso Viejo, Calif./Gym-Max, was the bronze medalist. Competition continues tomorrow with the individual event finals at 1 p.m. local time/1 a.m. ET, featuring five U.S. gymnasts. U.S. fans may follow the action live at universalsports.com and USAGymWorlds.com.

Biles straight titles come 20 years after Shannon Miller became the first U.S. woman to do so in 1993-94. Biles won with a four-event total of 60.231. Romania’s Larissa Iordache was second at 59.765, and Ross’ 58.232 earned her the all-around bronze.

The individual event finals run Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Oct. 11, the USA competes in two of the three men’s events – Jake Dalton of Reno, Nev./Team Hilton HHonors (University of Oklahoma), floor exercise, and Alexander Naddour of Queen Creek, Ariz./Team Hilton HHonors (USA Youth Fitness Center), pommel horse – and both women’s events –– Biles and MyKayla Skinner of Gilbert, Ariz./Desert Lights, on vault, and Ashton Locklear of Huntersville, N.C./Everest Gymnastics, on the uneven bars. On Sunday, the final day of competition, Dalton competes on vault; and Danell Leyva of Miami, Fla./Team Hilton HHonors (Universal Gymnastics), and Donnell Whittenburg of Baltimore, Md./Team Hilton HHonors (U.S. Olympic Training Center) both take on the parallel bars. For the women, Biles and Ross will compete on the balance beam, and Biles and Skinner on floor.

 

 

In the first rotation, Biles vaulted a soaring Amanar – Yurchenko two-and-a-half – to score a 15.866. She took the lead after the first event and never relinquished the top spot. In the second rotation, she shook off an error from the preliminary round to deliver a clean set on the uneven bars and a 14.533. She executed a Weiler half to toe-on Shaposhnikova and stuck full-out dismount. On the balance beam, Biles opened with a front aerial to sissone. Then, she tumbled a back handspring to two layout step outs and dismounted with two back handsprings to a full-twisting double back for a 14.766. With the title on the line, Biles tumbled a tucked double-double, a double layout half-out (the Biles), a double layout and closed with a full-in. Her energetic floor routine earned a 15.066 and the gold medal.

Ross began her competition with a nearly stuck double twisting Yurchenko for a 15.166 on vault. On the bars, Ross scored 14.700 for her routine that included a toe-on Shaposhnikova to Pak salto opening and a double layout dismount. Ross performed a front tuck to wolf jump, a back handspring layout step out series and switch ring leap before dismounting the beam with a double back. She posted a 14.433, which kept her in fifth going into the final rotation. Ross closed the competition on floor with an Arabian double to stag leap opening tumbling pass. She also performed a double pike and a double back. Her 13.933 moved her into third in the all-around.

Ways to follow the action
Here’s a quick overview of the ways to watch and follow the U.S. Team’s performances at the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, China. The time difference between Nanning and New York City is 12 hours; when it is noon in Nanning, it is midnight in New York. For more information on the World Championships, please go to usagymworlds.com.

  • Live webcasts. UniversalSports.com will have live webcasts of the team, all-around and individual event finals from Nanning, which will also be available at usagymworlds.com. For U.S. Eastern Daylight Savings time, the live webcasts are scheduled for: Oct. 11-12 – individual event finals, 1 a.m.

  • Cable TV. Universal Sports Network will air each finals session of the 2014 World Championships daily from 8-10 p.m. ET on Oct. 7-12. In addition, UniversalSports.com will provide LIVE streaming of the final six sessions. The network’s broadcast team includes Olympic gold medalists Bart Conner and Amanda Borden. Live webstreams of the finals sessions will also be available at usagymworlds.com.

  • NBC. NBC will broadcast coverage of the Worlds on Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. and Oct. 12 at 3 p.m. ET, hosted by NBC Sports Group’s gymnastics team of Al Trautwig, Tim Daggett, 1984 Olympic team gold medalist, and Nastia Liukin, 2008 Olympic all-around champion.

  • usagymworlds.com. USA Gymnastics will provide enhanced coverage from Nanning, including results, photos, interviews and the webcast. Fans can also follow the action on Facebook, facebook.com/USAGymnastics, and Twitter, @usagym, #FIGWorlds2014ART or #USAGymWorlds.

  • Live scoring. The International Gymnastics Federation provides live scoring from its World Championships. For more information and access, go to fig-gymnastics.com.