Simone Biles wins her ninth national title, supporting Olympic champion Sunisa Lee along the way

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – There was a time when pre-Olympic Simone Biles found “beauty in blindness,” reveling in not knowing what she didn’t know.

That was eight years ago. When she was still a young person. Still a bit “dizzy”.

Those days are long gone. The evidence shouldn’t be just Biles’ driver’s license or marriage certificate, but how the now 27-year-old is in a position to look beyond herself. The tunnel vision that almost all great athletes have of their pursuit of greatness has disappeared.

And perhaps that is the biggest difference between the national title the gymnastics star won Sunday night – her ninth, this time with a complete of 119.750 – and the first she won greater than a decade ago.

The defining moment of Biles’ victory was not a twist, turn or jump, but a walk.

That got here early, as Biles watched as 2020 Olympic champion and good friend Sunisa Lee spun awkwardly in the air during a jump and landed on her back, a combination of surprise and fear crossing her face.

“I thought it was over,” Lee said.

Biles then appeared at her side, unprompted. She knew exactly where Lee was at that moment, higher than anyone else.

Three years ago at the Tokyo Games, Biles’ similar wayward jump set off a sequence of events that led to her withdrawal from multiple competitions and dragged the conversation about the importance of mental health into the highlight.

Watching Lee, who has spent much of the last two years battling kidney problems which have yo-yoed her weight and complex her training, try to choose herself up, Biles left her teammates at the World Champions Center and offered Lee support, for that Biles relied on so heavily in Japan.

“I know how traumatic it is, especially on such a big stage,” Biles said. “And I didn’t want her knocking on her head, so we just went and talked about it.”

The two retreated from the floor to speak, and Biles reminded Lee that he “can do hard things.”

When they returned, Biles stood next to the uneven bars and cheered on Lee as she rebounded with a superb (if somewhat watered-down) program that scored 14.500 points and helped her to a promising fourth place finish.

“I know it was hard for me and she was there to help lift my spirits,” Lee said.

Biles is at a degree in her unparalleled profession where her enjoyment of the sport is not any longer solely focused on the quality of her performance.

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While she joked that she believed she was “aging like fine wine,” it’s telling that she kept her biggest smile on her face later as she talked about the five World Champion Center teammates – most of them a decade her junior – who would join her later at the Olympic trials in Minneapolis this month.

“That excites me because I think they have a long career ahead of them,” Biles said. “So if I can do anything to help them now and in the future, that’s what I will do.”

This is her way of giving back. She is fully aware of the highlight that awaits her in Paris and tries to set an example for others on how you can take care of the pressure that awaits her. She attends therapy recurrently – now even during weeks of meetings – and is set to give attention to what she will be able to control.

For example, her gymnastics.

In front of an audience that included her husband, Chicago Bears reliever Jonathan Owens, Biles placed on a four-rotation clinic that featured all the hallmarks of a typical Biles performance. There was stunning athleticism mixed with precision and greater than somewhat swagger.

Biles finished with the highest two-day rating in all 4 events, something she had only done once before at nationals (2018).

Her only mistake on Sunday was in the vault. She failed Yurchenko’s double pike – two back flips with her hands behind her knees – during her warm-up, and when it counted, she overcompensated by generating a lot force that she landed on her back. Still, she received $15,000 for her efforts, a testament to a treasure trove that no other competitive woman has ever accomplished and only a select group of men have attempted.

Not that it apprehensive her. Biles steeled herself, took a couple of deep breaths, then climbed to Cheng’s vault, which was rewarded with a 15.1 rating and put her ninth national title close by. No other U.S. gymnast in the history of the sport has greater than seven.

While Biles stays at the front as usual, competition is fierce for the remaining 4 spots on the five-man U.S. team, which is able to go to Paris as the major favorite to return to the top of the podium after ending second to Russia in Tokyo three years ago.

Skye Blakely (19) had one other impressive performance and can head to Minneapolis with great momentum. Three years after her bid to make the 2020 Olympic team led to injury, Blakely is hitting her peak at the right time.

Lee stays the epitome of elegance on bars and beam, her best competitions, and felt encouraged after her first elite all-around competition since she triumphed in Tokyo, with Biles cheering from the stands.

Olympians Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey are competing in the race, although each suffered falls on Sunday. Third place Kayla DiCello fell off the uneven bars.

Then there’s Shilese Jones, considered the top all-around gymnast in the U.S. not named Biles, who withdrew from the championships on Friday with a shoulder injury, although she said on Sunday she was feeling higher and planned to be available for trials. The same will apply to 18-year-old Kaliya Lincoln, who decided to not compete on Sunday after making some changes during Friday’s opening session.

Both – if healthy – are serious contenders for an invite to Paris (Jones specifically).

Biles’ ticket is essentially canceled. Same as at all times.