Skye Blakely adds two bronzes at gymnastics worlds

Skye Blakely kept adding to a remarkable week at the world gymnastics championships in Rotterdam on Saturday, winning bronze medals on vault and uneven bars one day after taking the all-around gold. The 21-year-old American had already helped the American women to team silver earlier in the meet, and the two new medals left her with four medals from four events so far. Simone Biles watched from the stands as the meet moved into its apparatus finals, and the crowd in Rotterdam gave Blakely a loud reception as she walked in for each final.

On vault, Skye Blakely finished behind Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, who took gold, and American teammate Claire Pease, who took silver. According to USA Gymnastics, Pease scored 14.233 on vault, while Skye Blakely scored 14.166 for bronze. Andrade, the Olympic vault champion, returned to the top of the podium after a long break from the event, and Pease collected her first individual world medal in her debut at the championships. For Skye Blakely, the vault medal mattered because it came less than a day after the all-around final, when she had already spent a full competition on every apparatus.

Uneven bars brought a longer wait. Skye Blakely went second in the final and scored 14.600, a mark that put her in second place at the time and forced her to watch six more gymnasts try to pass her. Kaylia Nemour of Algeria won gold with 15.333, and Helen Kevric of Germany took silver with 14.833. France's Elena Colas had a higher start value than Blakely but stepped badly on her dismount, and that mistake kept Skye Blakely on the podium. Reported by USA Today, Blakely later described the result as a dream come true and a reflection of the work she had put in during the year and the support around her.

Richard delivers on floor

Frederick Richard gave the American men a headline of their own on floor exercise. The 22-year-old from Massachusetts scored 14.633 to win gold, edging Jake Jarman of Great Britain into second and Artem Dolgopyat of Israel into third. Richard had the highest execution score of the final, and a stuck landing helped him hold off a field that included the last two Olympic floor champions. He became the first American man to win a world title on floor since Paul Hamm shared gold in 2003.

Richard had talked openly about the goal long before Rotterdam. In May, he said he would win gold at the world championships, and he repeated that belief through the summer as he prepared for the meet. After the final, he said believing in the outcome every day had paid off, and he planned to sleep with the gold medal. The win added a first world title to a record that already included an all-around bronze at an earlier world championships and a team bronze at the Paris Olympics. According to NBC Sports, Richard is also the first American man in more than a decade to win medals across team, all-around and individual apparatus finals at the Olympics and world championships.

Beam final still to come

Skye Blakely still has one final left. She competes on balance beam on Sunday, with a chance to add a fifth medal to a meet that has already put her alongside a small group of American women who have won at least four medals at a single world championships. Only Biles has won more than four at one world championships, and Nastia Liukin and Rebecca Bross also reached four at a single worlds. The beam final will test a different kind of calm after two days of high scoring on power and swing events, and Blakely has spoken about taking each apparatus on its own terms rather than counting medals in advance.

Skye Blakely's week also carries a longer story. According to the University of Florida team site, she became the first gymnast to compete in NCAA gymnastics and win a world all-around title in the same calendar year. She reached that point after an Achilles tendon injury ended her hopes of competing at the Paris Olympics, a setback that forced a long rehabilitation and a return through college gymnastics. Her Florida coaches and teammates have followed the Rotterdam meet closely, and her all-around win on Friday gave the American women their latest world title in an event they have dominated in recent years. For readers following the road to the Los Angeles Olympics, Rotterdam has turned into a clear marker: Blakely arrived as a contender and leaves the apparatus finals, win or lose on beam, as one of the gymnasts other teams will plan around.

Sources: USA Gymnastics report on the apparatus finals and NBC Sports coverage of Richard and Blakely.