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Entering the Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles was already the most successful gymnast of our time. He broke two important records in sports with the bronze medal he won in the balance beam final on Tuesday.
Biles, 24, currently has a total of 32 Olympic and world medals, matching Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union, but Biles has more gold overall. Biles also won seven Olympic medals, tying Shannon Miller as the most successful American gymnast at the Games. But Biles has four golds against Miller’s two.
Miller, 44, won his Olympic medals in 1992 and in 1996, the year the Americans first won the team event.
Latynina, 86, competed when the countries behind the Iron Curtain dominated women’s gymnastics. He won 18 Olympic medals between 1956 and 1964. She holds the record for most Olympic gold medals by any gymnast: nine.
Context is important. The complexity of gymnastics has evolved tremendously since Latynina’s time, partly due to the equipment. Back then, uneven bars were less flexible and the floor exercise mat and beam had no springs. The safe was not shaped like a table, but rather resembled a narrow-handled horse used by men.
“What we do cannot compare to what modern gymnasts do” Latynina said in a recent interview with Reuters:. “When I look at what the gymnasts are doing today, I’m a little scared. Would I start gymnastics or not?”
Biles directly holds several records. Among both men and women, most world championship medals, 25 and most gold medals, 19 in these competitions. It also holds the most versatile titles from world championships—five—because the competition was less frequent until 1978.
She was also the first American gymnast to win a world championship medal on every device.
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