American gymnast Skye Blakely's long road to the top ends with gold at the world championships

Rotterdam, Netherlands (AP) — American gymnast Skye Blakely claimed the women's all-around gold at the world gymnastics championships on Friday, executing four outstanding routines while other top competitors struggled. The 21-year-old achieved a total score of 55.733, which comprised a remarkable set on uneven bars and a focused performance on balance beam, with no significant form errors or falls.

This victory provided Blakely with a sense of redemption following her previous attempts to make the 2020 and 2024 U.S. Olympic teams, which were thwarted due to injuries.

Blakely burst into tears upon exiting the podium at the conclusion of her floor exercise during the final rotation, marking the culmination of a grueling and arduous journey that had tested both her mental and physical endurance. Liudmila Roschina secured silver with a score of 55.199, and Ke Qinqin of China took bronze with 55.032.

Algerian gymnast Kaylia Nemour's quest to become the first gymnast from Africa to win an all-around title at worlds concluded with a fourth-place finish. Nemour's initial performance in her first rotation was marred by a misaligned landing on the springboard during vault, which forced her to execute a simpler vault, resulting in a loss of crucial points.

Although Nemour rebounded impressively, primarily due to her uneven bars routine, which is one of the most challenging routines performed by any gymnast, male or female, on any apparatus, it was not sufficient to claim the podium.

American gymnast Claire Pease's aspirations of joining Blakely on the medal stand were thwarted when she dismounted beam and secured a seventh-place finish. The two had been competing just two days after the U.S. suffered a disappointing second-place finish in the team finals at worlds, ultimately falling to resurgent China. Despite this setback, Blakely and Pease had both been competing prior to the team finals fiasco.

Blakely started the day atop the leaderboard following an excellent performance on vault, followed by an outstanding bars routine. However, beam proved to be a different challenge altogether. Her flawless execution, characterized by the absence of missed connections and minimal wobbling, transformed her floor exercise into a victory lap.

Blakely's score of 14.200 secured the gold, and she shed tears of triumph as she saluted the judges, marking her ninth U.S. woman — and sixth this century — to win a world all-around championship. While the picture of her achieving the pinnacle of her sport may become more crowded in the next two years leading up to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Blakely's perseverance and talent have rekindled her presence in the conversation.