The U.S. women’s gymnastics team won a seventh consecutive team title at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium on Wednesday night. The American team, led by Simone Biles and comprised of gymnasts Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely and Leanne Wong, combined for a total of 167.729 points to edge Brazil and France for the title. The U.S. team won by a margin of 2.199 points in an extremely close contest; it was anticipated the Americans would dominate after a strong performance in qualifying. The
This win marks the seventh consecutive world championship victory for the U.S. team and the 26th world medal for Biles. U.S. women have won gold in the team event at every world championship that included a team competition since 2011. The victory in Antwerp also makes Biles the most decorated female gymnast in history; she now has 26 world championship medals, 20 of them gold, to go with her seven Olympic medals, including the 2016 Olympic title. Biles 33 combined medals at the sport’s two biggest events are one more than what Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union achieved.
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