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“The Redemption Tour” ended in a familiar place for Simone Biles: on top of the Olympic podium. Again.
The American gymnast and her unique brilliance ensured that the US women’s team dominated the final in the noisy Bercy Arena on Tuesday evening.
With Biles at her best, the Americans scored a total of 171.296, well ahead of Italy and Brazil. It capped a year-long streak that has seen Biles cement her reputation as the best ever in her sport and one of the best in Olympic history.
The outcome – the Americans on top while the rest of the world looked up – was not in doubt from the moment Jordan Chiles opened the evening with her double twist from the Yurchenko.
By the time Biles, who had been nursing a left calf strain during qualifying and was heavily taped, stepped onto the floor for the final event (a floor exercise set to music by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé), she had secured her fifth Olympic gold medal.
The 27-year-old provided the exclamation point anyway by giving the Americans their third gold in their last four Games appearances.
The Americans are unmatched (or even flawless, since it is gymnastics after all) when they are at their best.
And for more than two hours, Biles, standing before an audience that included everyone from tennis star Serena Williams and actress Natalie Portman to Biles’ husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, left little doubt.
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Her status as the sport’s all-time great. Her ability to push past the “bends” that sent her off the rails in Tokyo. Her place in the pantheon of the American Olympic movement.
Three years after retiring from the same competition to protect herself — a decision that changed the conversation about mental health in sports — Biles has brought her medal total in major competition to an astonishing 38 and counting.
Eight of those have been under the Olympic rings, making her surpass Shannon Miller as the American gymnast with the most gymnastics performances.
But her return wasn’t so much about winning. That was never really the point, it was just a byproduct of her unparalleled excellence. It was about a joy she had lost somewhere along the way.
It appears to be back. She leaned into the crowd, which roared with every turn, every jump and, yes, every twist. With her husband — on a break from NFL training camp — waving an American flag as she sat next to her parents, Biles did what she’s done so well for so long, save for a few tough days in Japan during a pandemic: She dominated.
But the 27-year-old didn’t do it alone. Lee and Chiles were on the team that won silver in Tokyo, while Biles watched from the sidelines. They endured a series of setbacks, both physical and personal, to get back to this moment and take the gold they so desperately wanted.
And there they were on the biggest stage, Chiles doing all four rotations alongside her good friend Biles while also being the American’s hype woman. Lee mixed her elegance with guts as she excelled on the beam and uneven bars, her two best events.
Carey won the floor exercise in Tokyo, but she did so with an asterisk. She earned her spot through a nomination process that the sports governing body has since abandoned. She was with Team USA in Tokyo, but was not actually part of the official four-person team.
She vowed to write a different ending this time around, and Cheng’s first-round vault earned her a score of 14.800 — bested only by Biles — giving the U.S. a commanding lead before Biles had even saluted the judges.
The only real drama revolved around the question of who would finish on the podium alongside the Americans.
Italy, which finished a surprise second behind the US in qualifying, claimed its first Olympic team medal since 1928 by beating Brazil, which took bronze for its first medal in the sport’s biggest event.
Still, there was no doubt about the top spot, which is rarely the case when Biles is involved.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
