Nearly 30 years ago, a group of American gymnasts captured Olympic gold in the women’s team final, gaining the nickname the Magnificent Seven for their performance at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
On Wednesday, five Americans hoping for Olympic glory next summer — Simone Biles, Shilese Jones, Leanne Wong, Skye Blakely and Joscelyn Roberson — earned their own “magnificent seven” moment, winning the team final at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, for Team USA’s seventh straight gold in the event.
Led by Biles, the U.S. finished with a total score of 167.729, more than two points better than Brazil, which finished second. Brazil, led by reigning Olympic all-around silver medalist Rebeca Andrade, secured its first team medal in the event while third-place France snagged its first team medal of any color at a women’s world championships since 1950.
Biles now boasts 26 world championship medals, 20 of which are gold. She’s the only gymnast to be a part of five gold medal-winning world championship teams. The 26-year-old has five more chances to increase her haul, as she qualified to every individual event final and is the favorite to win the all-around, vault, balance beam and floor exercise titles.
The U.S. women are the only team — male…
