Gymnast Simone Biles soared to victory in California came after returning from a two-year break to focus on her mental health. Biles, 26 won a record eighth championship at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, a decade after her first national title.

Biles received a standing ovation after her amazing floor performance. She scored a 14.800 on her floor exercise. After her total score 15.700 on the vault with her Yurchenko double pike. She earned the night’s highest score with a point total of 14.900 on the Cheng vault apparatus and she netted 14.450 points on the balance beam. Biles also earned 14.350 points on the uneven bars, placing third on them.

Her combined score of 118.450 beat the second-place finisher, Shilese Jones, by 3.9 points. Biles had been experiencing some problems mentally and physically, so she appeared stunned when she made her comeback. ¨I had been experiencing twisties¨ Biles said which is a mental effect on a competitor’s perception about their position in the air.

On October 6^th, at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, Biles won the women’s individual all-around final to secure her 21st world championship gold medal and her sixth all-around title. According to CNN, “She made history on the opening day when she finished first in the women’s all-around qualification, becoming the first woman to land the Yurchenko double pike vault – a high-difficulty skill historically only done by men – at an international competition.”

After taking a two-year hiatus from the sport Biles said, “I had to prove to myself that I could still get out here, twist. (I wanted to) prove all the haters wrong, that I’m not a quitter,” Biles said Sunday night. “As long as I’m out there twisting again, having and finding the joy for gymnastics again, who cares?”