World Gymnastics Championship: Simone Biles signs off with four gold and six medals

Simone Biles confirmed her status as gymnastics royalty on Saturday winning her fourth gold, and sixth medal overall at this week’s world championships in Doha, in a superlative individual performance.

Biles took gold in the final female event of the week, the floor exercise, after earlier winning a bronze on the beam.

Such was her dominance this week, her third placed finish was her worst performance of the championships.

To add to Saturday’s successes, the 21-year-old superstar also won golds in the team event, all-around and vault as well as a silver on the uneven bars.

Her astonishing week’s work means she now has a record – female or male – 14 world championship gold medals.

She also equalled Svetlana Khorkina’s all-time high for a female gymnast of 20 world championships medals.

And with two more podium finishes on Saturday, Biles became the first gymnast since the Soviet Yelena Shushunova in 1987 to win a medal in every single event at a world championships.

Her six-for-six in Doha was also the first time an American had gained a medal in every event.

Add all this to the fact that this was her comeback to international competition, she suffered all week from a kidney stone, and revealed this year she was a victim of Larry Nassar, the former team doctor convicted on sexual assault charges, makes her performances and medals all the more remarkable.

Doha was also her first international competition since winning four golds at the Rio Olympics.

Dalaloyan bags five medals

Biles took her final gold of the week with a floor routine which saw her marked a clear point ahead of the competition, despite penalty points for stepping out of bounds.

Compatriot Morgan Hurd took silver and Japan’s Mai Murakami bronze.

Earlier, Biles came third behind two teenagers, China’s Liu Tingting and Canada’s Ana Padurariu in an error-strewn beam competition.

In the men’s events there were more medals for the male star of the week, Russia’s Artur Dalaloyan.

He took silver in the vault, behind North Korea’s Ri Se-gwang. The 33-year-old was the oldest competitor in the final.

Kenzo Shirai of Japan took bronze.

Then the Russian took bronze in the men’s parallel bars behind winner, China’s Zou Jingyuan and Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev.

Dalaloyan, 22, ended the week with five medals, two gold, two silver as well his final bronze, in his first world championships.

Possibly the most thrilling competition of the week was left until last with high bar specialist Epke Zonderland taking gold for the Netherlands.

Injured Japanese idol, Kohei Uchimara took silver in his only individual event of the week, his 20th world championship medal.

And there was finally a medal – bronze – for America’s luckless Sam Mikulak, who had finished fourth in three events this week.