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          Takeaways from gymnastics worlds: Looking ahead to the 2024 Olympics

          After winning five medals in Antwerp, Simone Biles now has a total of 37 world and Olympic medals, the most of any gymnast in history. Naomi Baker/Getty Images
          • Alyssa Roenigk, ESPN Senior WriterOct 9, 2023, 09:33 AM ET
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              Alyssa Roenigk is a senior writer for ESPN whose assignments have taken her to six continents and caused her to commit countless acts of recklessness. (Follow @alyroe on Twitter).
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          ANTWERP, Belgium -- The enduring moment from this year's world gymnastics championships will be that of Simone Biles, her head tossed back, right hand in front of her face, left arm outstretched beside her, in the final pose of her spectacular floor routine. Or maybe it will be Biles wiping away tears -- or was that an eyelash? -- on the top step of the all-around podium, which featured three Black women for the first time in the sport's history. Or perhaps it will be Biles, 26, tripping over her own feet during her floor performance in the all-around, laughing at herself and then nailing her final tumbling pass.

          Really, it will be all these moments, because Biles is all these things: the most decorated gymnast of all time, a rock for her teammates, a gold standard for a generation of gymnasts, emotional in her return to the sport and unflappable and funny even when her performances don't go precisely to plan.

          "I was excited being back out here competing, having fun, having that pressure again," Biles said after taking gold in the individual event finals on balance beam and floor Sunday afternoon. "The whole entire experience that we've had at this world championships, I think we learned a lot from it."

          Ten years after Biles made her world championship debut in Antwerp, she likely competed in her final world championship here, and it was a memorable one. Team USA won its seventh straight team gold, not with a perfect, dominant performance, but with a gritty one. When 17-year-old Joscelyn Roberson injured her left ankle during vault warmups minutes before competition began, Leanne Wong, 20, a three-time world medalist, stepped in to replace her in the lineups on vault and floor.

          "I was a little disappointed with my performance, but I think I should be really proud of myself for stepping up and competing the way I did," said Wong, who finished seventh in the vault final. "Winning a gold medal for Team USA is the most unbelievable feeling, hearing the national anthem play and knowing that you were a part of winning a medal for your country."

          The U.S. women's team leaves Antwerp with seven medals. Biles takes home five of her own, which brings her world and Olympic medal count to 37, a record that will stand for a long while -- until she likely adds to it at the Paris Olympics. "This makes me feel a lot better [about Paris]," Biles said Sunday. "We still have meets next year to look forward to and to clean up some work, but it makes me feel really good and a lot more comfortable and competent.

          "I had to prove to myself that I could still get out here and twist and prove all the haters wrong that I'm not a quitter," she said. "For me, I didn't care [about medals] as long as I'm out there twisting again, having fun and finding the joy for gymnastics again."

          The men's team also made a statement this week, taking bronze in the team final, its first team medal since 2014. Nineteen-year-old Frederick Richard finished third in the all-around and made the floor final, and Khoi Young, 19, took silver on pommel horse and vault. Young became the first U.S. man to win multiple individual apparatus medals since Kurt Thomas and Bart Conner in 1979.

          Team USA is in a great position less than a year before the Paris Olympics. Here are four more takeaways from world championships as we look ahead to next summer.

          The world is on the rise in women's gymnastics

          Look no further than the women's team final for proof. Although the U.S. won again, Brazil took silver, winning the first world team medal in the country's history. France earned bronze, its first medal since 1950, and announced its arrival as medal favorites at its home Olympics. China finished in fourth, dropped by a fall on floor and low difficulty scores on vault, but is always in the mix for a team medal.

          Last year's world championship podium included Great Britain (silver) and Canada (bronze), teams that struggled with falls here in Antwerp but are strong contenders when they hit. Both Brazil and China won individual gold medals this year -- in addition to taking silver in the all-around, 2022 world all-around champion Rebeca Andrade of Brazil won vault and took silver on beam and floor, and China's Qiu Qiyuan won uneven bars gold.

          Without defending Olympic gold medalists Russia in the mix -- FIG banned the Russian and Belarusian teams after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 -- the podium in Paris is anyone's to grab. Of course, if the U.S. hits -- or even has a fall and a few mistakes, as it had here -- the rest of the world is competing for silver.

          And let's not forget Algeria's Kaylia Nemour, who took silver on the uneven bars and delivered her country -- and Africa -- its first world championship medal in history.

          The 2024 U.S. team is still impossible to predict

          Biles and all-around bronze medalist Shilese Jones, 21, who also took silver on uneven bars, have been rock solid all season and, barring injury or change of plans, look like locks to make the Paris squad. Jones hadn't competed in 10 months due to injuries before returning at U.S. championships in August and finishing second behind Biles in the all-around. That leaves three open spots, plus alternates.

          Wong made a strong case for herself this season, and especially here at worlds, where she did exactly what she was brought to Antwerp to do: hit routines, help the team build strong scores during qualification and step in last-minute in the event of an injury. Roberson also did her part during team qualification, and it's a shame she didn't have the opportunity to perform more than she did.

          "I hope when we get home and get an MRI, there is nothing too serious. I hope it's just a sprain," said Laurent Landi, who coaches Biles and Roberson. "She's very, very hungry. And I think that [injury] made her even hungrier for next year."

          None of Biles' Olympic teammates were named to the worlds team, except for alternates Wong and Kayla DiCello, who was also an alternate in Antwerp. But Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Sunisa Lee are all working to be in the mix for a spot on the 2024 team. So too are 2022 national champion Konnor McClain, who's competing at LSU this year; 2012 Olympic all-around champion Gabby Douglas, who announced she's training with an eye on Paris; and the University of Florida's Trinity Thomas, the 2022 NCAA all-around champion, who is back in the gym training and coaching the Gators with plans to return to elite competition next year.

          And don't forget the young up-and-comers, several of whom train with Biles, Roberson and Chiles at World Champions Centre in Houston: Tiana Sumanasekera, 16, and Zoe Miller, 17, who will compete at Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, later this month, as well as 15-year-old Dulcy Caylor. Kaliya Lincoln, 16, who trains at WOGA in Frisco, Texas, and is also on the Pan Ams team, is a strong performer on floor and beam.

          Everyone's flipping for Fred

          Richard, the 2023 NCAA all-around champion from the University of Michigan, took bronze in the all-around, becoming the first American man since 2013 and only the fourth ever to medal in the all-around at worlds. After the medal ceremony, he tossed his stuffed "Gymbo" mascot to his mom, Ann-Marie, in the stands and told reporters he hopes his performances -- and his clothing brand, Frederick Flips -- help to grow the sport.

          "I want my brand to outlive me in the sport," he said. "I want it to take over the sport for men's and women's gymnastics, and then go to other flipping sports like Parkour and cheerleading."

          But first, Richard said he wants to reach for the performance level of Biles. "I love just watching the way she competes," he said. "It looks like she's just showing off to the world and that's what I'm trying to replicate. I want to eventually get to that level where I'm just performing for you guys and the gold medal is set."

          The U.S. men's team will be medal contenders in Paris

          The men's team leaves Antwerp with three medals and has a real shot at doing the same -- or better -- in Paris next summer. That speaks to the effectiveness of a move by USA Gymnastics after the Tokyo Games to add bonuses that incentivize gymnasts to attempt more difficult skills in order to compete with countries like Japan and China, the most dominant teams in men's gymnastics this quad.

          In Antwerp, the Japanese and Chinese teams took gold and silver, respectively, and Japan's Daiki Hashimoto, 22, the reigning Olympic all-around champion, won his second straight world all-around title.

          "They're only going to get closer [as a team] from here and more hungry," U.S. men's program VP Brett McClure said after the team final. "Since we've been in a drought, now [an Olympic medal] is attainable."

          The U.S. men's most recent Olympic team medal is a bronze from Beijing in 2008, and they've won the Games only once, in Los Angeles in 1984. "The reality has set in that they can actually do this," McClure said. "It's not some unicorn off in the distance that doesn't exist. Now they believe in themselves and have more confidence heading into Paris."