Simone Biles on USA's team event win at World Artistic Gymnastic Championships: "Pressure was a little bit on but we stood up to the occasion" 

Simone Biles recently created history with her team in the Women’s Team event finale at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships on October 4. The six-member team won the event for the seventh time consecutively in Antwerp, Belgium. However, according to Biles, it was not a smooth ride for the team as they faced immense pressure.

On Wednesday's team event finale, Simone Biles and her teammates, Shilese Jones, Leanne Wong, Skye Blakely, and Joscelyn Roberson, led to a stunning victory with an overall score of 167.729, which was just 2.199 points more than Brazil. With 165.530 points, the South American country took its first-ever world championship medal, whereas France achieved the bronze medal with 164.064 points.

Biles amd her teammates at Day Five of 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships

For Team USA, it was a string of ups and downs at the event. They faced a setback when their team member, Joscelyn Roberson, got injured. The 17-year-old has jammed her ankle while warming up on the vault. However, the team performed damage control by replacing the Texas gymnast with her teammate Leanne Wong.

In the end, the team concluded the event with Simone Biles scoring 15.166 in the floor event, leading Team USA to their seventh victory.

Sharing their experience of making history at the world championship, Team USA interacted with the Olympics.com. Team member Simone Biles said that the team's ‘grit and fight’ made it special despite the ups and downs. She told,

"I mean, it wasn't our perfect meet today, we had a teammate go down, and we had some mistakes here and there, [but we] just keep going, keep pushing, keep relying on our training," said Biles.

Furthermore, the legendary gymnast explained the pressure that her teammates felt during the event,

"Before going up on floor, I was like, 'What do I need? What do I need?' And usually you don't feel that pressure, so I think the pressure was a little bit on but we stood up to the occasion."

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Simone Biles and Team USA had a spine-chilling start

Team USA at Day Five - 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships

At the start of the team event, newcomer Joscelyn Roberson injured herself in the vault warm-up. She was unable to take any weight, which made coach Laurent Landi carry her off the podium.

The next moment, 20-year-old Leanne Wong, who was initially supposed to complete only the balance beam, stepped in for the vault, replacing Roberson. The 2021 World all-around silver medallist, along with Shilese Jones scored 14.100 and 14.033, respectively. Moreover, Biles anchored the category with 14.800 points.

After the team won the event, Simone Biles spoke to the Olympics.com on Roberson’s injury,

"I was so nervous today more than anything, I was so frazzled after [Joscelyn] went down and I was just like, 'Get it together, get it together.'"