At another gala by Simone Biles with her 21st World Championship gold, the German gymnasts Sarah Voss and Pauline Schäfer-Betz did not achieve a top place in the all-around competition after falling.

Voss had to step off the uneven bars twice at the World Championships in Antwerp and came 22nd with 50.799 points. Schäfer-Betz, who had already qualified for the Olympic Games in Paris, took 24th and last place after falling from the gymnastics area on the floor with 49.932 points.

US superstar Biles won the title in the four-event competition consisting of floor, balance beam, vault and uneven bars with 58.399 points. As in the team all-around competition, the 26-year-old forgo her “Biles II” jump, which she had presented internationally for the first time in the qualification. Rebecca Andrade from Brazil won the silver medal with 56.766 points. Third place went to Shilese Jones from the USA (56.332).

Germans make too many mistakes

Sarah Voss got off to a rock-solid start and was on course for the top ten in ninth place after her exercises on the floor and in the vault. But then the 23-year-old had to involuntarily leave the uneven bars twice after a mistake and a fall, thus wasting all chances of a top placement.

The same thing had happened before to Schäfer-Betz, who fell off the gymnastics surface at the end of an acrobatic track and fell back to last place. In the following exercises on vault and uneven bars, the 26-year-old was no longer able to make up for the deficit. At the dress rehearsal for her start in the balance beam final on Sunday, she received the seventh highest score with 13.566 points.