In the absence of Simone Biles, other US stars such as Kayla DiCello point on. / Picture: APA / AFP / PHILIP FONG
Kitakyushu. While the gymnasts in Kitakyūshū, Japan, are crowning their new world champion in the all-around competition on Thursday (10.55 a.m., YouTube livestream FIG Channel) (Austria is represented in the World Cup final by Marlies Männersdorfer), the superstar is currently touring the USA. Simone Biles, who won five golds in 2019 and holds the record of 25 world championship medals, is fulfilling a personal dream with the “Gold Over America” tour (the abbreviation GOAT is no coincidence).
In 35 US cities, Biles addresses not only the beautiful side of sport in the glittering show, but also those that it made public in Tokyo: mental health in the context of pressure to perform and abuse by the former team doctor – the FBI investigation into the role of the US Gymnastics Federation in it are still running. “I'm grateful to be an advocate and to be able to speak my mind, but sometimes it gets in the way of my mentality,” said the 24-year-old. Officially, Biles did not end her career, but recently confessed that she should have resigned before Tokyo. In a Facebook series, she again flirted with Paris 2024.
In the absence of the defending champion and Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, who participates in the US version of “Dancing Stars”, the world title should not go to the USA for the first time in seven years, because the qualification was won by Olympic runner-up Angelina Melnikova from Russia . In the long term, however, the supremacy of US gymnasts does not seem to be in danger. With Leanne Wong, 18, and Kayla DiCello, 17, the next row was in the medal ranks and appreciated Biles' role model. “We learned so much from Simone,” said Wong, DiCello called her a “really great inspiration”, but also said: “Now it's our turn to show the world what we can do.”
Höck in the medal circle
On the rings, World Cup overall winner Vinzenz Höck will fight as Austria's first contribution in a discipline final for the very first World Cup medal for men on Saturday. The 25-year-old achieved 14.766 points in the qualification with a flawless exercise and was tied with defending champion İbrahim Çolak (TUR) in third place. Only the Chinese Lan Yingyu (15,266) and Zhang Boheng (14,866) were better.
“It worked out perfectly for me today, everything went perfectly. I am overjoyed, ”said Höck. The nervousness had been great. “When I saw the scores of the two Chinese, I began to have doubts. But then I put everything on one card, because tactics would have been impossible. “
