- Threats and diplomacy: Iran's dual strategy on Israel
- Spurs destroy West Ham in eight-minute blitz
- Japan 'zombie' train spooks passengers ahead of Halloween
- Spurs run riot to beat West Ham
- New Zealand beat Britain to defend America's Cup
- New Zealand need 107 to win after Sarfaraz, Pant heroics
- G7 defence summit considers Gaza, Lebanon as conflicts rage
- Austrian far-right radical arrested after defying Swiss entry ban
- New Zealand hit back after Sarfaraz, Pant heroics in rain-hit India Test
- Jailed Guatemalan journalist Zamora granted house arrest
- Netanyahu residence targeted as Hezbollah launches barrage at Israel
- Green leads at LPGA in South Korea as Jeeno surges
- Electricity blackout puts Cubans on edge
- North Korea troop deployment locks in Russia military alliance
- New Zealand and South Africa face off in Women's T20 World Cup final
- Maresca defies expectations with Chelsea revival
- G7 defence summit convenes during 'historic moment'
- Harris, Trump deploy celebrity power in must-win states
- Bella Nipotina wins world's richest turf race, The Everest
- Sarfaraz ton powers India to 344-3 in rain-hit Test
- Man arrested after 'Molotov'-like bombs tossed at Japan ruling party HQ
- Jane Goodall warns on 'false promises' at UN biodiversity meet
- Romantasy and dark college: young readers drive new literary trends
- King Charles given military honours on first day of Australia tour
- Martin extends championship lead with Australian MotoGP sprint win
- Chinese drone maker DJI sues Pentagon over blacklisting
- Lynx edge Liberty to force game five in WNBA Finals
- Indonesia's Prabowo targets growth spurt with big projects
- Spectre of royal meddling haunts Charles in Australia
- Pyongyang says recovered remains of South Korean drone
- Japan shifting back to nuclear to ditch coal, power AI
- Google wins delay in opening Android app store to rivals
- Martin takes dominant pole for Australian MotoGP
- Royal rest for cancer patient king on first day of Australia tour
- Man arrested after throwing suspected petrol bombs at Japan ruling party HQ: media
- Verstappen ends long wait for pole at US Grand Prix sprint qualifying
- 'Heartbreaking': Dad, fans grieve Liam Payne's death
- Ligue 1 leaders Monaco held by Lille in stalemate
- Record high Colombian cocaine production in 2023: UN
- McLaren boss blasts rival's comments on Norris as "tasteless"
- El Salvador activists acquitted after contentious trial
- FIA inspect Red Bull car's to check controversial set-up device
- Power plant failure triggers blackout across cash-strapped Cuba
- US budget deficit widens to $1.8 tn, third highest on record
- Google wins delay opening Android app store to rivals
- Global markets mixed as investors weigh earnings and China GDP
- Harris targets Trump's age after report of exhaustion
- Guirassy saves Dortmund's blushes against St Pauli
- 'Completely crazy' as Lavreysen wins record 15th world cycling title
- Animal rights activists sentenced for Buckingham Palace fountain protest
US gymnastics great Biles aims to lock up Paris berth at US Olympic trials
Simone Biles looks all but unstoppable as she vies to punch her ticket to Paris at the US Olympic gymnastics trials this week, where competition to fill out the five-woman roster promises to be fierce.
Biles captured her ninth US all-around title earlier this month, winning on all four apparatus at the US championships in Fort Worth, Texas.
Coach Cecile Landi said Biles's success in managing her mental health combined with sheer talent and a formidable work ethic mean the 27-year-old could be better than ever as a third trip to the Olympics beckons.
"I think we always knew she could be better," Landi said Wednesday as women began training at the Target Center in Minneapolis, where the trials start on Thursday with men's competition.
"She's the most talented athlete I've ever worked with and so we just knew if she could get her mental game as well as her physical game, then she would be close to unstoppable."
Biles dazzled in winning four gold medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, but her expected star turn at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games was cut short when she withdrew with the "twisties" -- a temporary mental block whereby gymnasts lose their sense of where they are in the air.
Since returning to competition in August she has gone from strength to strength, piling up more medals including all-around gold at the world championships last year.
Landi said a better work-life balance had only helped Biles in the gym.
"All the work she's been doing outside the gym and just being 27, married, she has other stuff going on and I think it helps her keep a good balance," Landi said. "It's not only about gymnastics and I think that keeps her sane."
Nevertheless, the Olympic trials are a nerve-wracking affair: two days of competition each for women and men with the athletes emerging as the all-around winners securing their Olympic berths.
A selection committee will then choose the remaining team members, taking into account performances at trials and other competitions including the national championships, as well as what combination of athletes might give the United States their best Olympic scoring chances.
The 16 women in the field include Suni Lee, who won all-around gold and uneven bars bronze in Tokyo, who is in her best form since battling career-threatening kidney disease.
In her first elite all-around competition since Tokyo Lee finished fourth at the US championships, shaking off a vault error to win the balance beam, where her difficulty score was the highest of any competitor in the event.
Defending Olympic floor champion Jade Carey, a seven-time world medallist, seeks another trip to the Games, as does Jordan Chiles, who helped the US to team silver in Tokyo.
- Trials 'hardest thing' -
A lot is riding on the trials for 21-year old Shilese Jones, who won all-around bronze at the 2023 worlds but missed the US championships when an old shoulder injury flared up.
Jones had to petition for an invitation to trials, coach Sarah Korngold saying Wednesday she had arrived in Minneapolis pain free and ready to challenge for a first Olympic berth.
Skye Blakely, 19, is a two-time world team gold medallist vying for a first Olympic team.
Kayla DiCello, an alternate in Tokyo, won the Winter Cup in February and took all-around bronze at the US championships.
"Olympic trials for any sport is the hardest thing that you'll ever do in life because the finishing product is obviously the Olympics," Chiles said. "This is where we're making an Olympic team."
Women will begin competition on Friday and conclude on Sunday, when the team for Paris will be named.
Twenty men launch competition for five Olympic berths on Thursday, with Brody Malone seeking to continue his comeback from career-threatening knee injuries sustained when he came off the horizontal bar at a meeting in germany in 2023.
Out for more than a year, Malone won his third US all-around title this month.
His competition here includes 2020 Olympian Yul Moldauer, who helped the United States to team bronze at the world championships last year, the men's first world medal since 2014.
The young stars of that team, Paul Juda, Fred Richardson, Asher Hong and Khoi Young, are hoping for a chance to build on that success in Paris.
P.Silva--AMWN