US gymnast Simone Biles wins a record eighth all-around national title

World gymnastics superstar Simone Biles won the women's all-around event at the American championships in San José on Sunday, giving her a record-breaking eighth title.

The four-time Olympic champion thrilled the crowd with a final floor performance that earned her 15.400 points and a final score of 118.450 points.

This eighth national all-around title enabled her to beat Alfred Jochim's record of seven in 1933. At 26, she also became the oldest gymnast to win the national all-around competition, ten years after her first title.

The American star had been in the lead since the first night of competition on Friday when she performed a Yurchenko double pike, a vault so difficult that no other gymnast has ever performed it in competition.

Her victory on Sunday was her second in as many competitions since returning from a two-year hiatus. She had withdrawn from most of the events at the 2021 Olympics in Japan for mental health and safety reasons.

The gymnast explained that she had suffered an attack of "twisties", a dangerous loss of bearings in space that exposes athletes to the risk of injury when they land.

In San José, Biles was the only competitor to finish the two days of competition with two scores over 15. Her runner-up Shi Jones achieved one on Sunday - 15.0 - on the uneven bars.