Story by
Olympic gymnastics highlights: Simone Biles wins gold medal in all-around
- Story by
- Olympic gymnastics highlights: Simone Biles wins gold medal in all-around
PARIS — It was closer than expected, but the final result was no surprise.
Simone Biles cemented her legacy as the world's most dominant gymnast Thursday night, narrowly defeating Rebeca Andrade of Brazil in the 2024 Paris Olympics all-around final to become the oldest all-around Olympic champion since 1952. Biles, 27, is also just the third woman in history to win multiple golds in the all-around, and the first to win all-around titles eight years apart. Andrade finished silver and Suni Lee took bronze .
Advertisement
Biles, who hasn't lost an all-around competition in more than a decade, gave herself a bit of work to do after a major mistake on uneven bars, which left her sitting third at the midway point behind both Andrade and Kaylia Nemour of Algeria. But she responded by hitting a big routine on the sport's trickiest apparatus, balance beam, and then put the competition to bed with a typically brilliant performance on floor.
"I'm getting uncomfortable guys!" says of how close she was to Andrade. "I was stressing. But I knew if I did my work it'd all be fine."
Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports' WhatsApp Channel
Advertisement
Thursday's victory gave Biles her second Olympic gold of these Games, after the U.S. women's squad captured gold in the team final on Tuesday, and her ninth Olympic medal overall , the most ever won by an American gymnast. In the coming days, Biles could add as many as three more golds as she is due to compete in the apparatus finals for balance beam, floor exercise and vault.
Biles, who has also won 30 medals at world championships, has said she is on a bit of a redemption tour in Paris after her experience at the 2021 Tokyo Games. Biles withdrew midway through the team final with a bout of the " twisties ," which caused her to lose a sense of where she was in the air on twisting elements. She proceeded to withdraw from most of her other remaining events and take a two-year hiatus from competitive gymnastics.
Biles has proven to be perhaps even more dominant upon her return last year. She cruised to the all-around world title last fall and has continued to push the boundaries of the sport with new skills, including her now-famous Yurchenko double pike vault – which helped carry her to gold Thursday night.
"It is crazy I am in the conversation of the greatest of all time," Biles said. "I just think I'm still Simone Biles from Spring, Texas, who loves to flip."
Advertisement
USA TODAY Sports brought you live results, scores and highlights throughout the team final. Check out the highlights.
Simone Biles is now GOAT of all GOATs
Simone Biles is the best to ever do it and it's not even close. In her sport. And in all others. Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Serena Williams and anyone else you want to throw in the mix — they all take a backseat to Biles. With her second Olympic all-around title Thursday night, Biles surpassed all the other GOATs. She's now, as teammate Jordan Chiles put it earlier this week, the greatest of the greats. Read Nancy Armour's full column on Biles being the greatest of all time .
Simone Biles' goat necklace
After Biles won all-around gold — again — she pulled out a necklace with a very blingy goat .
When does Simone Biles compete next?
Biles has three individual finals left.
Advertisement
-
Saturday, Aug. 3:The vault final is at 10:20 a.m. ET.
-
Monday, Aug. 5:The balance beam is at 6:36 a.m. ET, and floor final 8:20 a.m. ET.
Who is competing in women's individual gymnastics finals?
Here are the individual final events the U.S. women's gymnasts team will compete in .
-
Simone Biles:all-around, vault, floor exercise, balance beam.
-
Suni Lee:all-around, uneven bars, balance beam.
-
Jordan Chiles:floor exercise.
-
Jade Carey:vault.
Simone Biles vault all-around
Simone Biles got some serious height off the table on her Yurchenko double pike — the famous (and incredibly dangerous) vault that is now among her many eponymous skills . And even with a significant hop backwards on the landing, she has already established a commanding lead.
Biles' score of 15.766 puts her more than six-tenths ahead of Rebeca Andrade Andrade through one rotation. While Andrade had a better execution score on her vault, the starting value of the Yurchenko double pike (6.40) dwarfs that of the Cheng vault that Andrade hit (5.60).
Simone Biles' floor routine
Simone Biles held a .166 lead over Brazil's Rebeca Andrade with one rotation left, floor exercise, and she scored a 15.066 to win the gold medal.
Simone Biles of the United States reacts after competes on the floor exercise in the women’s gymnastics all-around during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Bercy Arena.
Simone Biles' beam routine
Ice. Cold. In the trickiest event in women's gymnastics, balance beam, Simone Biles put up a big-time score under big-time pressure. Despite two small wobbles, she nailed her aerial series and had a relatively clean landing on the dismount to earn a 14.566.
Simone Biles bars routine
Simone Biles winced as she walked away from the uneven bars after a nervy moment as she transitioned from the higher bar to the lower. It appeared that she got a bit too much power on the release and got a bit too far away from the low bar, raising her knees to avoid touching the ground.
Advertisement
"The fact that she did not come off the bar, it's just another thing to be in awe about for Simone," NBC analyst Laurie Hernandez said on Peacock's broadcast.
Biles didn't fall, but the sequence forced her to take an additional unplanned swing and significantly hurt her execution score, resulting in a 13.733 that move her into third place (29.499) behind Brazil's Rebeca Andrade (29.766) and Algeria's Kaylia Nemour (29.566) after two turns.
Simone Biles of the United States competes on the uneven in the women’s gymnastics all-around during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Bercy Arena.
Suni Lee's floor routine
Suni Lee, who sat in fourth entering the final rotation, scored a 13.666 on floor, moving her into the bronze medal position. It's her second Olympic medal in the all-around final.
Suni Lee's beam routine
Suni Lee had a few small wobbles — but no fall — in her beam routine to score an even 14.000.
Sunisa Lee of the United States competes on the beam in the women’s gymnastics all-around during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Bercy Arena.
Suni Lee's bars score
Suni Lee was smiling before she even stuck the landing on her uneven bars routine — a stellar showing that earned a score of 14.866.
Suni Lee's vault score
Suni Lee got things started on vault with a double-twisting Yurchenko, taking a hop on the landing but notching a solid 13.933. Vault is not Lee's strongest event, but her performance there should put her in good position heading into uneven bars.
Advertisement
Rebeca Andrade Olympic all-around final performance
Rebeca Andrade couldn't have asked for a much better start in the all-around final. On vault, she stuck the landing on a Cheng — the second-hardest vault being done today — and notched a big-time score of 15.100, with a 9.500 execution score (out of 10).
Trailing Simone Biles by almost seventh-tenths of a point after their first rotation, she needed to be pretty much impeccable over the remaining three events to catch up. And she certainly as on uneven bars. Andrade and Biles both had the same difficulty score on their uneven bars routines, but Andrade's execution was significantly better — resulting in a score of 14.766 that was almost a full point better than Biles'.
Advertisement
She then turned in an impressive performance on beam, especially under the circumstances. Going last in the rotation, and having just seen Simone Biles hit her routine, Andrade managed to block out the pressure and register a score of 14.133. Despite a few balance checks and minor issues, it was a strong showing. She closed out on floor, scoring a 14.033.
Steph Curry at gymnastics all-around final
The NBA's greatest shooter of all time, Steph Curry, is the stands to watch the women's gymnastics all-around final.
Simone Biles, Suni Lee introduced at all-around final
Biles and Lee were introcued to the crowd here to huge cheers.
How high can Simone Biles jump?
During her floor routine at Olympic gymnastics trials, Simone Biles reached 12 feet in the air at one point.
How many gold medals does Simone Biles have all time?
Biles now has won nine Olympic medals after the U.S. women's gymnastics squad won team gold at the team final in Paris. Six of her medals are gold. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Biles won three individual golds in the all-around, vault and floor exercise and led Team USA's "Final Five" to the team gold. She also added a bronze medal on the balance beam. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Biles added a silver medal in the team event and an additional bronze medal in the balance beam to her hardware collection.
Advertisement
Why is Simone Biles called the GOAT?
Biles is the greatest gymnast of all time . She has consistently dominated the sport for over a decade, which would have been an unimaginable feat just a few years ago as most gymnasts reach their peak in their late teens. Her ability to win is in a class of its own. With 39 Olympic and world championship medals — 28 of which are gold — Biles has won the most of any gymnast in history. She has also not lost an all-around competition since 2013.
Biles redefines the possibilities of her sport not just in her record-breaking number of wins and medals, but also in the unmatched difficulty of the skills she completes. Biles has no less than five skills named after her — two on the vault and floor and one on the balance beam — because she was the first, and in most cases, the only athlete to complete them in competition.
Suni Lee kidney illness: How it changed her gymnastics mindset
Suni Lee went to Auburn right after winning gold in Tokyo , wanting to have the college experience and to compete at the NCAA level. She announced in November 2022 that she'd leave Auburn at the end of her sophomore season. Before that season could even end, however, Lee developed a kidney disease that caused her to retain so much fluid there were days she couldn't even put on her grips. She returned to Minneapolis and began working with doctors at the Mayo Clinic, who discovered she was suffering from a second kidney ailment.
Advertisement
Thus began a nearly yearlong nightmare of tweaking medications and Lee feeling as if she had no control over her body. At one point, she said, she'd gained 40 pounds. There were days she could train and days she could only do certain things. Then there were days she couldn't even get out of bed. By the end of February, Lee had returned to competition . It was an inauspicious start — she did only uneven bars and balance beam at Winter Cup and fell off both — but it let her know she could still do this.
Has anyone won two Olympic all-around titles before?
Yes, but it's been a minute. Or a half-century. Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union was the first to win two Olympic all-around titles, winning in 1956 and 1960. Vera Caslavska of then-Czechoslovakia then won the next two, in 1964 and 1968. But it's been a new champion at every Games since then.
In fact, there hasn't been a reigning all-around champion who's won another medal of any color since Ludmilla Tourischeva of the Soviet Union. After winning gold in the all-around in 1972, she was the bronze medalist in 1976.
Advertisement
How many Olympics has Simone Biles been to?
The 2024 Paris Olympics are Simone Biles ' third Olympic Games.
How old was Simone Biles at her first Olympics?
Biles was 19 years old at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
What are the twisties in gymnastics?
Biles missed most of the Tokyo Olympics after developing a case of " the twisties ," which caused her to lose her sense of where she was in the air and jeopardized her physical safety.
Who is Simone Biles married to?
Simone Biles is married to NFL player Jonathan Owens , who will be at the all-around final today. At the team final on Tuesday, he sat with Biles' parents and wearing a T-shirt with "BILES" on it and a huge photo of his wife in action on it. He landed in Paris on Tuesday morning.
Advertisement
During the first rotation of Monday's team final, Owens was seen with a pen in hand, possibly recording scores, as Biles performed her vault routine. Mic'ed up on NBC's broadcast, Owens let out a healthy "let's go!" after Biles recorded a 14.900 on the vault, the highest score among the three U.S. gymnasts.
Simone Biles' Instagram caption deservedly put MyKayla Skinner on blast
The scorch marks on MyKayla Skinner are going to be visible for a while after Simone Biles put her on blast Wednesday. Deservedly so, mind you. The Tokyo Olympian had the audacity earlier this summer to criticize the women who eventually made the team for the Paris Games , saying they weren't as talented and didn't have the same work ethic as in Skinner's day.
"Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions," Biles captioned an Instagram post of her and her teammates — Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles , Suni Lee and Hezly Rivera — celebrating their gold medal Tuesday night.
Advertisement
Simone Biles' moves named after her: What to know
Simone Biles has left her mark on the sport of gymnastics, in addition to her combined 28 world championship and Olympic medals. Biles has five skills named after her: Two on vault, two on floor exercise and one on balance beam. Here's are the Simone Biles moves named after her .
Simone Biles' Yurchenko double pike: What to know
The Biles II is also known as the Yurchenko double pike , one of five moves named after Simone Biles . Vaults are categorized by "families," which are based on the entry. On Yurchenko vaults, a gymnast does a roundoff onto the takeoff board and a back handspring onto the table. Biles then follows it with a double somersault in the piked position.
Advertisement
Few men even try this vault, which is so difficult because of the power it takes to get two somersaults as well as its lack of a bailout. If something goes awry, more likely to land on her head or neck than her knees.
Biles began doing this vault in 2021 but didn't do it at a worlds or Olympics until the 2023 world championships. With a 6.4 difficulty value, it is the hardest vault in the women's code.
When Biles did the vault last year, she took a half-point deduction for having coach Laurent Landi standing on the landing mat, ready to step in and redirect her into a safe position if it looked as if she was headed for a scary landing. But neither Biles nor Landi feel the need for him to do that anymore.
Advertisement
The most difficult vault commonly executed by other gymnasts is valued at 5.6, eight-tenths lower than the Biles II, so doing it gives Biles a huge scoring advantage.
Where Simone Biles trains and what it's like to train with her
Simone Biles trains at Champions Centre World, which is owned by Biles' parents Nellie and Ron and is just outside Houston, has become one of the premier gyms in the country. WCC has two gymnasts on the five-woman US team at the 2024 Paris Olympics , Biles and Jordan Chiles, with Joscelyn Roberson a traveling alternate and Tiana Sumanasekera a non-traveling alternate. It also sent the most gymnasts, five, to the Olympic trials, and had three more at the US championships .
"Training with Simone is, like, once in a lifetime," said Roberson, who moved to WCC after the US championships in 2022 . "She's always so bubbly in the gym. Plus, she can hit. All the time. Like, she never has a bad day, which is insane to me."
Advertisement
How Simone Biles shattered gymnastics age stereotype
Simone Biles, 27, is seeking to become the oldest all-around Olympic champion in women's gymnastics in 72 years, and she is one of four athletes on the U.S. team who fit what used to be a rare mold, as repeat Olympians in their 20s. The other three − Jade Carey (24), Jordan Chiles (23) and Suni Lee (21) − all competed in college between their two Olympic appearances, which also used to be uncommon. ( Hezly Rivera , 16, rounds out the team.)
With an average age north of 22 years old, it will be the oldest U.S. women's gymnastics team to compete at the Olympics since 1952, according to USA Gymnastics.
"The longevity of this sport has been totally changed. Simone has changed that," Chiles said . not to control everything that I can't control anymore," Biles said.
Advertisement
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Olympic gymnastics highlights: Simone Biles wins gold in all-around
