Simone Biles has become a household name due to her exemplary performance in Artistic Gymnastics over the years. She is also remembered as one of the first women athletes to speak openly about mental health in sports during her withdrawal from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
In the finals last night, Biles led Team USA to a stunning gold medal-winning finish. The five-woman squad of Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera took the Olympic podium posting a combined score of 171.296, nearly six points clear of Italy (165.494) who took the silver.
This Olympic season saw Biles in top form in Paris despite a small hitch that held the suspense of the spectators at the Bercy Arena. During the warm up round, Simone injured her calf and was escorted off the floor by USA Gymnastics team doctor Marcia Faustin. But she returned, with a medicated tape wrapped tightly around her leg, and went on to do the three sets with her magnificence.
What put her in the lead were the two vaults of ‘the Yurchenko double pike’ which carries her name in the sport’s Code of Points – a floor routine where the gymnast must spring off the board with enough force to execute multiple rotations and flips in a fraction of a second.
The game changer was the qualifying rounds, where she was awarded the stellar all around score of 59.566, a lead with a wide margin from Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade in second place.
USA Gymnastics co-lead Chellsie Memmel, a 2008 Olympic Silver medalist commented, “What (Biles) was able to do, with looking like she had some soreness or something in her lower leg, is remarkable.”
Simone has called the Paris Olympics the redemption tour for Team USA. “Our Tokyo performances weren’t the best. We weren’t under the best circumstances either, But, I feel like we have a lot of weight on our shoulders to go out there and prove that we’re better athletes, we’re more mature, we’re smarter, we’re more consistent,” she said.
Team USA’s comeback from the Tokyo Olympics is nothing short of electrifying. 27-year-old Biles’ gold marks her 38th overall career gold between the Olympics and World Championships, making her the most decorated gymnast in athletic history.
