Simone Biles Was 'Emotional' After Winning World Championship, Becomes Most Decorated Gymnast of All-Time

Following the win, the iconic gymnast nabbed the all-time record for world and Olympic medals, with 37 total

Simone Biles has made history — again!

On Friday, the superstar gymnast won her sixth all-around world championship gold, and grabbed the record for most international gymnastics medals in the history of the sport.

Biles, 26, previously had 33 total medals — across world championships and the Olympics — and had been tied with Belarus gymnast Vitaly Scherbo, who competed in the 1990s.

In the medal ceremony, in which Rebeca Andrade took silver and the United States' Shilese Jones took bronze, Biles dabbed back tears, but it wasn't for reasons one would think.

"I was emotional because it was my first worlds here, 10 years ago, and then now my sixth one, so it's crazy," she said in an interview following the competition on the Peacock broadcast. "But I swear, I do have something in my eye that's been bothering me for like four hours and I cannot get it out."

Heading into the final rotation on the floor, Biles needed a relatively low score of 12.9 to secure the win. She earned a chuckle from the crowd after very uncharacteristically tripping while taking a leap, skipping the skill completely.

"For some reason, I could not pick up my feet on my leaps, 'cause I actually kicked the ground in my [other] leap too," Biles said after the final. "And then on that one, I just kicked the ground so bad and I just had to laugh at myself. I was like, am I supposed to do another leap? 'Cause I don't know the codes that well, I just do whatever I'm told. So I was like, I think I need to do another leap but I don't have enough time, my music's gonna run out."

But it was all enough for Biles to finish with a 58.399 over Andrade, who netted a 56.766, and American Shilese Jones, who took the bronze with a 56.332.

The competition, which was held in Antwerp, Belgium, was not without other moments of drama.

Related: See Simone Biles’ Floor Routine That Secured Gold for Team USA at the 2023 World Championships

Prior to the start, one of the top medal contenders, Jessica Gadirova of Britain, pulled out of the final, British Gymnastics said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).

And after the first rotation, Biles was in second place, even though her Cheng vault netted her a huge score of 15.100.

The reason? Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour started out on her own signature event, the uneven bars, and landed a 15.200 score.

But Biles was steady and focused, scoring a 14.333 on the bars, which is said to be her “least-favorite” event.

Midway through the competition, the seven-time Olympic medalist had the slimmest of leads over Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade — 0.233 points.

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For Biles, her return to the world stage came after two years away from international competition.

During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the athlete waged a public battle with the dreaded “Twisties,” which led her to recalibrate her mindset, if not her approach.

Related: Simone Biles Says She Questioned If She Was 'Ever Going to Be Able to Compete Again'

Biles told PEOPLE in August that in taking a step back from the mat, she took time to work on the mental side of the sport.

“I think it was more about the personal side and getting to truly take care of myself mentally and physically and make sure everything is in tune so that whenever I am competing everything goes well.”

Yet, the renowned athlete has been candid in the past that twisting in any capacity has given even her pause.

In a “Let’s Chat” Q&A on her Instagram Story in July, the four-time Olympic gold medalist shared that she had to overcome an initial fear of "twisting" after a fan asked what her "hardest event to come back to" was this time around.

“It's always bars … mentally and physically but this go around BABY!!! Twisting on any event,” Biles wrote, adding: “IYKYK.”

When asked on Peacock how it felt to be the sole owner of the overall international titles record, she was characteristically modest.

"I don't know, I think I'm always shocked, you guys are so good with the stats and stuff," the champion said. "I'm just here along for the ride and to contribute to the U.S. and just have fun."

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