Professional gymnast Simone Biles has been named the Hickok Belt® Award winner for August 2023. Voting was conducted by a select panel of members of the National Sports Media Association (NSMA). The voters selected the elite gymnast on her historic record breaking eighth National Championship. On August 27, 2023, Biles became the first gymnast to win eight All-Around Titles at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, ahead of Leanne Wong and Shilese Jones. She scored a massive 15.400 on her floor routine. Biles broke the record of Al Jochim who won seven titles on a national level, his last one in 1933. The 26-year-old American superstar is also the oldest woman to win a title and is the all-time winningest American gymnast.
Other finalists for August in order of how the NSMA ranked them included: Mookie Betts (baseball), Noah Lyles (track & field), Olga Carmona (soccer), Viktor Hovland (golf), Sha’Carri Richardson (track & field), Freddy Peralta (baseball), Coco Gauff (tennis), Max Verstappen (auto racing) and Chris Buscher (auto racing).
Biles’ selection as the Hickok Belt® Award winner for August recognizes her as “the best of the best” in professional sports for the month. It also makes her the sixth candidate eligible to receive the 2023 overall award, joining Carlos Alcaraz, Nikola Jovic, Jon Rahm, Mikaela Shiffrin, Damian Lillard and other finalists throughout the year based on NSMA voting.
To learn more about the Hickok Belt® Award and its history, visit http://www.hickokbelt.com.
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