Gymnastics World Championships 2014 Results: Tracking Women's, Men's Events

The Rio Olympics may be two years away, but folks needing a dose of gymnastics were able to get their fix this week, as the World Championships got underway in Nanning, China.      

From a U.S. women's team full of depth to a U.S. men's team looking to return to the upper echelon of the sport, there was plenty to watch for coming into the week. Below, we'll recap the finals and highlight some of the top performances from the various events. 

Oct. 10: Women's All-Around Final

Simone Biles, the 17-year-old American star, made history with an incredible, dominant performance in the final floor exercise to secure her second straight all-around title at the Gymnastics World Championships. 

Per USA Gymnastics and Nathalie Duchene, Biles is the first woman to repeat as the all-around champion since Svetlana Khorkina in 2001-03: 

If you want go back even further, per USA Gymnastics, Biles' win makes her just the second American woman to win back-to-back all-around championships since Shannon Miller in 1993-94:

Per Nick Zaccardi of NBC Sports, Biles was challenged by Larisa Iordache heading into the final event before posting the best score on the floor exercise:

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Biles, 17, scored 60.231 points over four apparatuses to win gold by .466 over Romania’s Larisa Iordache. Biles led Iordache by .133 going into the final rotation, floor exercise, but is superior to the Romanian on the event and proved it again under pressure. Biles posted the top floor score of the night among 24 gymnasts by .333 — 15.066.

"

After she won, Biles told USA Gymnastics, via Zaccardi, the victory "actually blows my mind. If I think about it right now, I’m just like, what? … It’s just really weird."

While Biles is going to be the story, and deservedly so, fellow American Kyla Ross warrants a shoutout. She The 2012 Olympian was battling a hip injury and still secured a bronze medal, per Maggie Hendricks of USA Today:

On October 1, Ross told Christopher Korotky of Inside Gymnastics that the injury she suffered during training was the result of overdoing it but was feeling better:

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It’s my hip, groin and hamstring – that whole area. [Dr. Larry Nassar, the team doctor, has] been working really hard. I’ve been in the training room more than my actual room (laughs). But, it felt pretty good today. I was glad I was able to do all four events. That was really important this week – to be able to peak at the right time. I was happy to be able to hit all the events pretty strong

"

Biles' victory also ends this streak of United States parity in the all-around event. Zaccardi noted that there have been 10 different women who finished as the top American finisher in the last 10 years. The teenage sensation will also take part in the apparatus finals with the chance to collect more hardware before the World Championships end on Sunday. 

Oct. 9: Men's All-Around Final

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

There was little suspense in the Men's All-Around Final. Japan's Kohei Uchimura entered as the favorite after winning a gold medal in this event at the 2012 Summer Olympics and three straight gold medals in this event at the World Championships from 2009-11. 

Uchimura didn't disappoint on Thursday with a dominating performance to capture another gold medal. His final score of 91.965 was nearly 1.5 points higher than silver medalist Max Whitlock (90.473), via International Gymnastics Federation. 

To put Uchimura's feat in perspective, Infostrada Sports tweeted that he is just the third gymnast to win five world titles in a single event:

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Kohei Uchimura becomes only 3rd gymnast to win FIVE world titles in same event (All-Around) after Chechi (Rings) and Khorkina (Uneven Bars).

— Infostrada Sports (@InfostradaGold) October 9, 2014"

Uchimura wasn't the only one making history; Whitlock also managed to set a record with his silver, according to Nick Hope of the BBC:

Nick Zaccardi of NBC Sports provided Whitlock's thoughts on the record:

It's unfortunate that gymnastics doesn't get more national play when it isn't in an Olympic year, because if it did Uchimura would be a huge worldwide celebrity. There are certainly mobs of fans who know him, especially in his home country. 

The level of dominance displayed by Uchimura year after year is incredible. It's one thing to win every year, but consistently decimating the field the way he has shouldn't be possible with parity being so prevalent in all sports. 

Oct. 9: Women's Team Final

The United States women continued their recent dominance at the team event on Wednesday, beating out China—by a margin of 6.693 points—and Russia to take gold at the World Championships.

This follows up taking gold at both the 2011 Worlds and 2012 Summer Olympics, and even more impressively, they did it without McKayla Maroney and Gabby Douglas, among a few other top gymnasts. Depth clearly wasn't an issue, however.

Former Olympians like Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin quickly congratulated the team:

It was truly a team performance, as Simone Biles, Kyla Ross, Alyssa Baumann, Madison Kocian, Ashton Locklear and MyKayla Skinner combined to put forth a truly dominant showing, winning every event except the beam. Ross overcame a hip injury and was called upon to participate in four events, delivering with style, while Biles provided one of the highlights of the victory with a 15.375 on her floor routine. 

Afterward, Baumann spoke about the team effort:

With plenty of talented women out of action and the Rio Olympics still two years away, it's hard to read too much into this performance as it pertains to 2016. Still, the fact that the United States women have now won three major competitions in a row is an indication of how strong the program is and how much depth it boasts at the moment.

The women will be back in action Friday, as the women’s all-around final will get underway that morning. 

Oct. 8: Men's Team Final

Japan was oh so close to winning gold at the 2014 World Championships in the men's team final. Instead, host China stole away the medal at the very last moment.

Needing a 15.867 on their final routine to secure gold, China's Zhang Chenglong pulled off an epic 15.966 routine on the high bar and maintained China's dominance in men's gymnastics.

Japan had to settle for a bittersweet silver, while the United States took home the bronze.

While it wasn't the gold the United States would have loved, it was a strong showing after a slow start for the country. Sam Mikulak put the performance in perspective:

The men will be back in action Thursday, when the men's all-around final is set to take place.