The American led from start to finish in the competition, scoring a total of 60.231 points to become the first woman in more than a decade to win back-to-back world all-around titles.

Russia's Svetlana Khorkina, who was in attendance at the final, won her first title in 1997, lost it in 1999, and reclaimed it in 2001 and 2003.

Biles also became just the second US female gymnast to win two world all-around titles after Shannon Miller completed the feat with back-to-back wins in 1993 and 1994.

Behind Biles came Romania's Larisa Lordache, who won silver with 59.765, and Kyla Ross of the US, who won bronze with 58.232.

The two-time American national champion jumped into the lead from the start, scoring the highest apparatus score of the final, 15.866, on vault in the first rotation.

After an apparatus-high result on the vault in the first rotation, Simone Biles looked safe in her pursuit of a second successive world all-around title ©Getty Images


She safely added to this with a successful performance on uneven bars, an apparatus that had failed her in qualifications, and maintained her composure on balance beam in a cautious but efficient routine.

As the last competitor of the final, the American, who had already won US team gold in China, needed a score of 14.610 to pass Lordache for gold.

She handily bettered that mark with a Latin-flavoured floor exercise routine that included four crowd-pleasing, complicated tumbling passes, and received a title-affirming score of 15.066.

A nimble performance on the balance beam ensured Lordache a move from fourth to second on the third rotation, as she scored an apparatus-high 15.100 to set her up for silver.

Ross looked to be heading home empty handed as she moved into the final rotation in fifth position.

A stumble by third-placed Yao Jinnan of China on the floor was seized upon by the American, however, as she leapt past the Chinese gymnast and Russia's Aliya Mustafina.

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