Bengaluru/Doha, October 25: As the 48th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships began in the Qatari capital on Thursday (October 25), the USA's Simone Biles is the cynosure of all eyes.

The quadruple Olympic gold medallist will make her return to international competition after taking a year off following her triumphant showing in Rio in 2016.

Her self-enforced absence from the sport -- she returned to competition in July -- has only served to increase expectation for the 10-day championships, the first ever to be held in the Middle East.

less than a year of being back in training and I’m on my way to my 4th world championships... how crazy

— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) October 16, 2018

The 21-year-old, will become the first woman in history to win four world all-around titles if she takes gold in that discipline in Doha.

Her main competition is likely to come from teenage compatriot Morgan Hurd, the 2017 champion.

Biles could also take gold in the vault, floor exercise and beam competitions. She is a member of an exceptionally strong US team looking for its fourth consecutive straight world title, but their preparations have been anything but smooth.

.@Simone_Biles showed off her new vault today during training at the @Gymnastics World Championships in Doha!

Read our event preview here 👉🏻 https://t.co/zxte2ZpEDS pic.twitter.com/xzdCaP2q1z

— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) October 20, 2018

Since Biles performed in the 2016 Olympics, it has been a tumultuous time for US gymnastics.

In July 2017, former team doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison on charges of sexual assault. In January this year, Biles revealed herself to be one of his victims.

In the fallout, US gymnastics chief executive Kerry Perry resigned because of her handling of the scandal.

And just this month, interim CEO Mary Bono resigned after just five error-strewn days in charge after posting a critical tweet alluding to Nike and its support for NFL star Colin Kaepernick, who triggered a political firestorm after kneeling during the US national anthem to protest racial injustice.

Here is the statement I released earlier today regarding my resignation from USA Gymnastics pic.twitter.com/Oqga5FTXvx

— Mary Bono (@MaryBonoUSA) October 16, 2018

Biles was hugely critical of Bono, taking to Twitter to say "it's not like we needed a smarter usa gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything".

Doha presents the US with a chance to draw a line under the chaos which has engulfed the team in recent years.

Handmade medals

Meanwhile, the Local Organising Committee unveiled the unique, handmade medals that combine artistic gymnastics with Qatar's culture.

The medals, which took 35-45 days to handcraft, combine the different gymnastics apparatus, the event's logo and symbols of Qatari culture.

Each of the medals made were given the highest care and attention by a team of professional goldsmiths and silversmiths who are trained on how to handle high profile events such as the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

The World Championships being held inside the Aspire Dome will go on till November 3.

(With inputs from Agencies and local media)