Biles shrugs off hospital visit to star in qualifying

A kidney stone wouldn’t stop her from competing at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship, Simone Biles said, and thankfully it didn’t. The American sensation was in the emergency room past 1am at a Doha hospital, just 17 hours before the USA women’s team qualifications would begin at the Aspire Dome. Soon after Biles found that she had a kidney stone. While she was advised rest, Biles wanted to get out of the hospital.
Yesterday, the 21-year-old defied medical advice as she clambered off her hospital bed to deliver a breathtaking performance to not just lead the USA to top of the standings, but also top the qualifications in the All-around, Vault, Balance Beam and Floor Exercise. She was second in Uneven Bars.
“I heard roller-coasters may help kidney stones and I am basically my own little roller-coaster out there,” Biles said with a chuckle, after enthralling the crowd yesterday.
At 21, Biles is already a legend of the sport. She won four gold medals and a bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics and is a 10-time world champion. Biles is returning to competition this year after taking a break in 2017 and is aiming for her fourth world All-around title.
That would take her beyond Russia’s Svetlana Khorkina for the all-time female record, while if she was to claim two more wins in the team and individual apparatus she will overtake Vitaly Scherbo’s mark of 12 for the most golds in Worlds history.
All those records could be in danger this week as Biles looks in prime shape, despite carrying a kidney stone. After the qualifications yesterday, Biles said she would wait for the World Championships to get over on November 3 to get the kidney stone removed, which she said was “big”.
“I was in the ER last night and came back at around 1am. I found out I had a kidney stone. The pain is pretty OK right now, so that’s good. As an athlete my pain tolerance is definitely a little higher than your average person, I guess,” she said.
“My pain has been a lot lower than it has been in the last couple of days, so that’s good. I think the team really cheers me up and adrenaline kicked in, so I think that really helped a lot,” Biles added.
Biles said it was completely her decision to compete. “It was definitely 100 percent my decision. Nobody forced me to be out here. I’m really happy that they let me decide what I wanted to do. I think tonight went pretty well overall. I had a little mistake on bars but I kept it going. I think, for the rest, I tried to stay as calm as possible and to relax,” she said.
Biles is also set to get a vault named after her, subject to approval by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). She landed her signature forward double-twisting vault for the first time in global competition. While in floor routine, she scored 15.333 with a clinical display.
After first day’s women’s qualifications, Biles finished with 60.965 points in All-around, for a good 4.5 points lead over compatriot and good friend Morgan Hurd, who won the All-around title in Montreal World Championships last year.
The USA is well ahead in the team qualification with 174.429 points, with Japan a distant second (162.180). Top eight teams will qualify for Tuesday’s final, with China and Russia competing today.
Germany (161.071) was third, followed by the Netherlands (159.029), Belgium (158.970) and Italy (153.237).
Meanwhile, the 43-year-old Oksana Chusovitina proved age is just a number as she finished third in Vault after the first day’s qualification. Almost three times as old as some of her competitors, the Uzbekistan gymnast put herself in contention to make the Vault final. This is Chusovitina’s 16th world championships. Her first Worlds was in 1991, which means she’s been at a world-class level since before all of her competitors were even born.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s 16-year-old Jana al-Kiky put on a spirited performance in her maiden world championships. The young gymnast will only be richer by experience from competing on a big stage at home. She was absolutely lovely on floor event, with her twisting routine and received a thunderous applause from the crowd.
Al-Kiky said it was not her best performance because of injuries to both her ankles, but nonetheless, she was satisfied her work. “I felt a little bit stressed at the start due to the big support and the fact that it is the world championships. It was a completely different atmosphere from what I saw before during the world cups and Asian Games, but the cheering from the crowd helped me to give my best,” she said.