Simone Biles tops Gabby Douglas for third straight world gymnastics title

Blessed with so much talent in her pint-sized frame, Simone Biles basked in the glow of victory on Thursday as she became the first woman to win three successive all-around titles at the world gymnastics championships.

Gold medalist Simone Biles of the U.S. poses after the women's all-around final at the World Gymnastics Championships. Her gold medal, which is her 11th overall medal in the World Championships, also makes her the most decorated woman in World Championship history, passing Alicia Sacramone's previous medal count of 10.

Biles moved to Texas at the age of three to be brought up along with her younger sister Adria by her maternal grandparents Ron and Nellie Biles.

Douglas was an underdog competitor heading into London and peaked brilliantly there. "I really want to come out with confidence and show that I was back and that I was back for the right reasons".

"I really wanted to prove to everyone that my comeback was real, that it wasn't fake or for the fame or anything", Douglas said.

Iordache has been competing at a high level without interruption since 2012, but has never risen head-and-shoulders above other gymnasts and stayed there year-in, year out.

After her team faltered, forcing the country to compete in a second qualification round if it is to win a berth to the 2016 Games, she had everything to gain.

She held her lead after the uneven bars, 14.900, with Douglas moving into second 0.400 behind her teammate by scoring 15.033 on the apparatus.

The first rotation was the vault, in which Biles set a positive precedent. Her effort was nearly flawless, with a slight step forward on the landing the only minor blemish. After three it was Shang still holding third with Iordache giving Romania a chance and Japan's Asuka Teramoto moving into fifth after a huge vault that gave her a 15.166. She won this world title by the biggest margin of victory despite a few uncharacteristic mistakes.

"So when Simone fell at the U.S. Championships, it was like "Oops".

Biles wasn't as solid as she was during qualification. Her personal coach Aimee Boorman said later she'd told her athlete that she'd had "the save of the century". I'm still shocked by myself.

Maggie Nichols will join Biles in the .

Ordinarily, Biles said she ignores the scoreboard.

On Thursday, she looked close to her Olympic form. And the gold-and-silver-winning pair also was on the receiving end of a gazillion tweets for the podium domination, because, DUH.

"I saw that", she said. During her first tumbling pass, the Brit lost her footing causing her to slip off the beam.