PARIS — A hush fell over Bercy Arena as Simone Biles stood at the end of the vault runway. A close-up shot on the big screen showed Biles’ chalked-up feet on the pastel blue carpet, with her left ankle heavily taped.
For six seconds, Biles set aside her worries. She executed her eponymous vault perfectly, leading the United States into the team final and advancing to four of the five individual finals.
The United States secured the highest qualifying score among the eight teams advancing to Tuesday’s final. With a total of 172.296 points, the U.S. scored more than five points ahead of the second-place team, Italy. The scores reset for the final, as the U.S. aims to reclaim the gold medal after finishing second in Tokyo.
Three years after her sudden withdrawal during the team final, Biles was again seen walking alongside medical personnel, complaining of calf discomfort before the second event. She left the floor warm-up area with the U.S. team doctor. U.S. gymnastics technical lead Chellsie Memmel commented that she “might have felt like I was gonna puke.”
Biles’ coach, Cecile Landi, mentioned that the injury had resurfaced after subsiding a few weeks ago but expressed confidence in Biles’ ability to compete in both the team final and individual events. Memmel emphasized that the thought of withdrawing or reducing the difficulty of her routines never crossed Biles’ mind.
“Incredible,” Memmel said of Biles’ performance. “She is an outstanding gymnast and person. What she achieved despite apparent soreness in her lower leg is remarkable.”
With the world watching her return to the Olympic stage, Biles delivered a commanding performance, earning a standing ovation from a star-studded crowd including Anna Wintour, Ariana Grande, and Tom Cruise after her beam routine. She scored the highest in all-around (59.566), vault (15.300), and floor (14.600), and the second-highest on beam (14.733). After competing in an empty arena in Tokyo, Biles enjoyed the vibrant atmosphere, capping her performance with a two-handed wave to the crowd following her bars routine, the only event in which she did not advance to the finals.
Reigning Olympic champion Suni Lee qualified for the all-around final in third place (56.065), behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade. Lee narrowly edged out teammate Jordan Chiles, who finished third, trailing Lee by 0.067 points. Only two gymnasts per team advance to the all-around final.
Chiles advanced to her first individual Olympic final with a floor routine score of 13.866, placing third in qualifications. The UCLA star had Snoop Dogg watching her Beyoncé routine next to her parents. She finished second on floor in the second subdivision, advancing to the final along with the top eight gymnasts.
After the floor warm-up, Biles was seen telling U.S. coaching and medical staff about her calf discomfort before returning with her left ankle taped. She received thunderous applause each time she saluted the judges. Despite stepping out of bounds on her first pass and treading carefully on her left foot, Biles executed the hardest floor routine in the world, helping the United States recover after a fall from Jade Carey.
The reigning Olympic floor champion struggled in her signature event, rolling out of bounds on her final pass and missing the finals. Carey rallied on vault and qualified for the final with an average score of 14.433. Hezly Rivera, making her Olympic debut, did not qualify for a final.
Andrade, who might debut a new triple-twisting vault named after her if completed, qualified second with a 14.683 average but could not surpass Biles’ 15.300. The seven-time Olympic medalist scored 15.800 on her first vault, executing her signature Yurchenko double pike.
A few minutes earlier, Biles was seen crawling on the vault runway to protect her ankle. When asked about her feelings at that moment, Memmel joked that they were not suitable to share publicly.
Landi, Biles’ personal coach since 2017, remained unperturbed, knowing there was nothing to worry about.
