In what was a glorious display of Black Girl Magic, three young and talented black sportswomen wrote their names in the history books over the weekend when they broke records in their various disciplines.
Starting off with Simone Biles, the reigning world and Olympic champion proved why she deserves to be touted as the greatest gymnast of all-time after she won her 25th career medal at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart on Sunday.
Her incredible feat officially makes her the most decorated gymnast of all time, knocking off retired Belarusian gymnast Vitaly Scherbo, who has 23. Going into the competition with 20 medals, the 22-year-old won her 24th and 25th medals (both gold) on the floor and vault beam. She won a total of five gold medals at the championships.
Biles’ historic run at the world championships comes on the back of two moves being named after her at the same competition. On October 5, she effortlessly finessed two extremely difficult and never-before-done moves on the balance beam, as well as, during her floor routine.
In a tweet, the Olympic Channel confirmed she successfully landed a double-double dismount on the balance beam and a triple-double during her floor routine. The former will officially be named “The Biles” and the latter “The Biles II.”
Making Africa proud, Kenyan marathon runner Brigid Kosgei also wrote her name in the history books on Sunday when she won the Chicago Marathon in a women’s world record time.
“People were cheering, you are running the world record! World record! I felt their energy, and they inspired me,” she said after her victory.
Her second consecutive victory in the competition, Kosgei finished her impressive run in 2 hours, 14 minutes and 4 seconds, beating Britain’s Paula Radcliffe’s 16-year record by 81 seconds, according to ABC News.
A very impressive achievement, Kosgei, after crossing the finish line, challenged herself to break the new record she set.
“I’m still focusing to reduce my time again — if it’s possible,” she said, according to ABC News. “If my body would be good [I could] reduce [my time a] little by little, slowly.”
Coming into the spotlight after beating her childhood idol, Venus Williams at Wimbledon a few months ago, 15-year-old tennis sensation and rising star Cori “Coco” Gauff became the youngest Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) winner in 15 years after beating Jelena Ostapenko at the Linz Open final in Austria on Sunday.
Her first ever title in her promising career, Coco beat Ostapenko 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Although she was eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the competition, she was lucky enough to be recalled after another player withdrew due to an injury, according to CNN.
A second time coming, she made it count this time around.
“I’ll definitely remember this moment for the rest of my life,” she told the crowd after her victory.
