SIMONE BILES SAID she was most afraid of Rebeca Andrade as she attempted to win back the Olympic all-around title, and tonight the Brazilian made clear why the Greatest of All Time gymnast was correct.
Finishing with a silver medal just over one point behind the American superstar, Andrade was the obvious heir to the throne in the Bercy Arena tonight.
But as Biles finished her first tumbling pass of her floor routine – the final rotation of the night – she knew she had secured gold and the title she first won eight years ago.
Having had to withdraw from the competition in Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021), Biles wasn’t able to defend the title won for the first time in Rio four years’ prior.
That competition was won by teammate Sunisa Lee who took bronze tonight.
Biles, true to her mission to make gymnastics a safer and more inclusive sport, celebrated entirely with Lee by her side, each holding a corner of the same stripes-and-stars flag.
She shared a warm hug with her coach Cécil Landi before running to meet USA teammate Jordan Chiles.
The competition, which sees the gymnast compete on balance beam, vault, uneven bars and floor, wasn’t just a victory parade for the 27-year-old. She had a shaky moment on the uneven bars, a rare mistake which almost led to her knees touching the floor, and a slight wobble on the beam.
The mistake on uneven bars allowed Andrade, from Brazil, take the lead after the second rotation.
They had both scored over 15 on the vault as the opening apparatus but the American came out on top by 0.666 there after performing the Biles II – one of the most daring and dangerous moves.
There wasn’t much between them on the balance beam either, with Biles (14.566) showing appreciation for Andrade’s routine( 14.133), clapping her off the podium.
It was on the floor where the gap widened to decide the colours of the medals. To the sounds of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, Biles flipped, twisted and tumbled to 15.066 (compared to Andrade’s earlier posting of 14.133) and a wild standing ovation.
Biles now has a record nine Olympic medals, more than any other American gymnast. Six of those are gold. She could add three more in Paris as she competes in the apparatus finals on the vault, floor exercise and balance beam.
As she celebrated, she held out a pendant on her necklace to the camera. It was a GOAT.
Written by Sinead O’Carroll and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say