Jade Carey ‘beats’ Simone Biles in vault qualifying at world championships
Jade Carey cruised through the vault qualifying round at the gymnastics world championships on Saturday, posting a combined score of 15.2 — the highest in the field in Stuttgart, Germany.
Perhaps most importantly, though, was who Carey beat.
The 19-year-old edged out teammate Simone Biles — the reigning world and Olympics champion in the event — by 0.001 points. Biles posted a 15.199, nearly 0.4 points ahead of Mexico’s Alexa Moreno.
“I’ve been very excited here,” Carey said, via Team USA. “I just really wanted to make it for my team and make them know that I can hit when I need to.”
Yet Carey, who finished runner-up in the event in 2017, didn’t seem to care that she “beat” the four-time Olympic gold medalist.
She was just happy to help. And, after all, the duo will both get another shot at the event in the finals next week.
“Right now, I’m still taking one thing at a time,” Carey said, via Team USA. “We’ll see what happens and what’s going to be next.”
Biles still had a stellar day in Germany on Saturday. The 22-year-old qualified in first place for the all-around final with 59.432 points, and had two new elements named after her in the process. Her performance sent Team USA five points ahead of China in the competition, too.
Still, Biles said she feels like she can do better and isn’t going to ease up after her strong start — especially in the vault.
“Vault, I don’t even know what that was,” Biles said, via Team USA. “I wasn’t even doing the right steps. I have to go look at the video to see my steps.”
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