Simone Biles leads U.S. women to record 7th straight team title at gymnastics world championships

Led by Simone Biles, the U.S. women won a record seventh consecutive team title at the gymnastics world championships on Wednesday night.
The American team of Biles, Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely and Leanne Wong combined for a total of 167.729 points to edge Brazil and France.
The U.S. team won by a margin of 2.199 points as the final proved to be a closer contest than anticipated after the Americans put up a dominant performance in qualifying.
The U.S. women have won gold in the team event at every world championship that included a team competition since 2011. Their victory in Antwerp broke a tie with the Chinese men for the longest streak of consecutive team titles and made Biles the most decorated female gymnast in history.
Biles now has 26 world championship medals, 20 of them gold, to go with her seven Olympic medals, including the 2016 Olympic title. Her 33 combined medals at the sport's two biggest events are one more than what Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union achieved.
The U.S team overcame an early scare as Joscelyn Roberson was forced out of the event even before it started after she seemed to hurt an ankle while warming up at the vault. She was helped off the mat and subbed by Wong.
Jones then kicked off the competition smoothly for the Americans with a Double Twist Yurchenko, with only a small hop. Wong responded to the last-minute call with a clean effort before Biles opted for the slightly safer `Cheng' vault rather than the Yurchenko Double Pike she performed during qualifying on Sunday.
The Americans amassed 42.966 points and were second behind China after the first rotation following the Chinese gymnasts' excellent display on uneven bars.
Biles and her teammates then bested their Chinese opponents' performance on bars as they took the overall lead with a margin of 1.467 points. They increased it a bit further after the beam, as Biles made up for the modest 11.700 Wong received by scoring 14.300 with a solid routine.
Biles capped off a successful night for the U.S team with a spectacular floor routine rewarded by a 15.166.
------
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/apf-sports
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Two Canadian citizens confirmed dead in Antigua: Global Affairs
Global Affairs Canada has confirmed the death of two Canadian citizens in Antigua and Barbuda, news that comes amid reports from local officials that a woman and child drowned last week at Devil’s Bridge.
Senators were intimidated, had their privilege breached, Speaker rules
Any attempt to intimidate a senator while in the process of fulfilling their duties is a breach of their privilege, even if the effort is ultimately unsuccessful, the Speaker of the Senate ruled Tuesday.
Nearly 70 victim impact statements expected at Nathaniel Veltman sentencing
As the Crown and the defence discussed legal matters ahead of the sentencing hearing of Nathaniel Veltman, the court heard that 68 victim impact statements are expected to be submitted.
'Widespread' sexual and gender-based crimes committed during Hamas attack, Israeli officials say
Israeli officials say there were 'widespread' sexual and gender-based crimes committed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel.
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante collapses during press conference
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is 'doing well' but will reduce the pace of her activities over the next few days after collapsing during a press conference at City Hall on Tuesday morning.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Poilievre keeps scoring into the Liberals' empty net
In his column for CTVNews.ca, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says Pierre Poilievre's new 'Housing Hell' video dealt a 'devastating' blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberals, whose cupboard seems empty of big ideas.
Here is Canada's unseasonably mild December forecast
December is predicted to be unseasonably mild across Canada, thanks to a "moderate-to-strong" El Nino and human-caused warming. Warming and precipitation trends will be stronger in some parts of the country than others, and severe weather is still possible, meteorologists say.
Israel moves into Gaza's second-largest city and intensifies strikes in bloody new phase of the war
Israel said Tuesday that its troops had entered Gaza's second-largest city as intensified bombardment sent streams of ambulances and cars racing to hospitals with wounded and dead Palestinians, including children, in a bloody new phase of the war.
Canadian 15-year-old students' math scores have been dipping since 2003: study
Most 15-year-old students in Canada met the basic standards for math and the country was among the top 10 performers in the tests, though scores have been dropping since 2003, according to a new global report.