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It’s Official: Simone Biles is the World’s Best Gymnast

RIO DE JANEIRO — Simone Biles, already considered the world’s greatest gymnast before even competing in the Olympics, emphatically confirmed her standing on Thursday by winning the women’s individual all-around gold medal at the Rio Games.

Wearing a stars-and-stripes leotard, Biles joined Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin and Gabby Douglas as American all-around winners.

The American Aly Raisman won the silver, and Aliya Mustafina of Russia won bronze.

The first rotation for the top gymnasts was the vault, and both Biles and Raisman broke out their Amanars. In that challenging vault, the gymnast performs a round-off onto the board and then a back handspring onto the table.