Simone Biles wins all-around at trials, makes Olympics again - ESPN

MINNEAPOLIS — Simone Biles is heading back to the Olympics. So are some of her friends.

The gymnastics superstar earned a third trip to her sport's biggest stage by cruising to victory at the U.S. Olympic trials on Sunday night, posting a two-day all-around total of 117.225 to clinch the lone automatic spot on the five-woman team.

Three years removed from the Tokyo Olympics — where she pulled out of multiple finals to prioritize her safety and becoming a touchstone on the importance of mental health in the process — Biles returns to the Games looking perhaps as good as ever at 27.

«Trusting the process and [my coaches], I knew I'd be back,» Biles said.

Biles isn't going alone.

Reigning Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, 2020 Olympic floor exercise champion Jade Carey, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles and 16-year-old Hezly Rivera were named to the five-woman team later Sunday night. Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong are the alternates.

A trip to France has never really been in doubt for Biles since she returned from a two-year break last summer. In the past 12 months, she has won a sixth world all-around title and her eighth and ninth national championship — both records — while further cementing her status as the best in her sport.

Biles will be a prohibitive favorite to bookend the Olympic gold she won in 2016, though there is plenty to work on before women's qualifying July 28.

She backpedaled after landing her Yurchenko double pike vault, a testament to both the vault's difficulty and the immense power she generates during a skill few men gymnasts try and even fewer land as cleanly.

Biles hopped off the beam after failing to land her side aerial, though she wasn't quite as frustrated as she was during a sloppy