Simone Biles is halfway to national title No. 9. 

The four-time Olympic gold medalist finished the first day of competition at the 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships with a comfortable lead of three points and four tenths over two-time world team gold medalist Skye Blakely (57.050).

Biles' all-around total of 60.450 blew her 59.500 from the Core Hydration Classic out of the water and is the highest score recorded by any woman gymnast this Olympic cycle. Somehow the 'GOAT' just keeps getting better. 

Biles opened the competition with her eponymous Yurchenko double pike on vault, which she launched into the stratosphere for the highest score of the evening in any event (15.800). Her momentum continued to build as the evening went on, posting a 14.650 on uneven bars, a 14.800 on balance beam, and a 15.200 on the floor exercise to close out the competition. 

Cecile Landi spends 30 hours a week in the gym coaching Biles along with her husband Laurent. She sees the ins and the outs, the highs and the lows. This version of Simone Biles is perhaps the best she's ever seen.

"It's not even the skills, its the attitude and her behavior," Landi said. "I truly feel like she's happy to be here. I know she says she's ready to be done, but I think she's really enjoying it and appreciating every meet she gets to do."

Blakely, who placed fourth in the all-around at the U.S. Championships in 2023, looked more confident and prepared than ever. Blakely posted the second highest score of the evening on beam (14.450) and ended her competition with an upgraded Cheng on vault for a 15.000.

Coming into the competition, Blakely said her goal was an all-around score of 56.000. Perhaps as a way of manifesting the result, she wrote it down in the notes app in her phone. When the chalk dust settled Blakely had exceeded her goal by over a full point. 

"A 57.000 I think really talks and I'm really excited about that," Blakely said. 

In fact, Blakely exceeded a lot of her goals on night one. She was hoping for a 14.600 on vault, a 14.200 on uneven bars and a 14.400 on balance beam. Her final scores? 15.000 on vault, 14.400 on uneven bars and 14.450 on balance beam. 

On floor she fell a little bit short of her goal with a 13.200, but will be looking for redemption on the second day of competition. 

Currently in third place is 2024 Winter Cup champion Kayla DiCello (56.850). DiCello didn’t have her best performance at the Core Hydration Classic, but made a strong statement on night one in Fort Worth.

Tokyo Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee, who competed in the all-around for the first time in an elite competition since winning the all-around gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, currently sits in fourth (55.750). 

Shilese Jones, who finished second all-around at the last two U.S. Championships withdrew from the competition a few hours before start time, citing a shoulder injury. Jones said she plans to petition to compete in the upcoming U.S. Olympic Trials in Minneapolis. 

The top two athletes in the combined all-around rankings from both days of competition at the U.S. Championships will automatically advance to the Trials. 

Competition for the senior women concludes on Sunday with the competition beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Fans can tune in on NBC, Peacock, NBC.com, or the NBC/NBC Sports app.