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Simone Biles said she closed her time at the Paris Olympics “bawling my eyes out” to her teammates after a glorious run in which she secured four medals — three gold and one silver.

America’s gymnast sweetheart had called this year’s competition her “Redemption Tour” and did not disappoint, leading this year’s team to a heart-thumping performance and a team gold after it took second at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Biles, 27, bowed out of the Olympics on Monday after having won silver in the women’s floor exercise final following multiple penalties and after she fell on the balance beam.

Speaking about how she felt ending her stint at the world’s greatest competition stage, Biles, an 11-time Olympic medalist, said it hasn’t quite sunk in.

“I don’t think I will until one day I decide to retire. But yesterday, once we got back to the village, I looked at Jordan [Chiles] and just started bawling my eyes out,” she said Tuesday on NBC’s “TODAY” show. “And she was like, ‘I knew it was going happen — I just didn’t know when!’”

“I think I was just so full of emotion and I finally released all of that. I was so proud, happy, bittersweet that the journey’s over. It’s so crazy. It happened too quick. My third Olympics!” she added.

But she may not be done with the Games just yet.

“You know, you never say never. The next Olympics is on home turf. I’m just going to relax and see where life takes me,” she told Hoda Kotb about the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Biles reflected on her star career, saying: “If not for my parents and adoption, I wouldn’t be here today.” Ronald and Nellie Biles adopted her and her younger sister, Adria, when she was 6.

Biles appeared for the interview with a boot on her leg, as Kotb noted she had a calf injury during the Games that had been bothering her.

“Right now it’s just precautionary. We’re resting up as much as possible; we have a tour in a couple of weeks. I’m just going to rest and heal,” Biles said.

Biles, who has been vocal about mental health, also spoke about how she handled self-care during the competition, revealing she kept up her routine sessions with her therapist.

“I saw her about three or four times throughout this whole entire process, and it didn’t matter if it was before all-around or after qualifications. I went back to the village and I got on a call with her and did my therapy session because that’s routine for me now,” she said, noting that it made her feel “comfortable and confident to compete.”

Simone Bile

Biles took a two-year break from competing after the Olympics in Tokyo, where she grappled with the “twisties.” She cited the emotional toll at the time and became a mental health advocate.

She said that in her future outside the mat, she’d like to have kids with her husband, Jonathan Owens, who was seen in Paris cheering her on.

“He was so excited. He was more excited to pin-trade,” she joked. “Obviously, he loved seeing me complete. He was still keeping score. For him, it meant the world to him because he’s seen the amount of hours that I’ve put in. So to actually see in person, he was like, ‘Wow, this is amazing’ and he was just so excited to be there.”

Biles said she wants to be remembered for more than the gold and the glory. Instead, she simply wants to be remembered as “someone who loved the sport, had fun doing it and was just authentically herself.”

“She had the best floor routine of the day and in the Olympics,” Biles said of Andrade’s performance at the finals event.

Simone Biles explained the meaning behind her and her teammate Jordan Chiles’ bow to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade as she was awarded the gold medal in the women’s floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Aug. 5.

“I think it’s all about sportsmanship, and we don’t care whether we win or lose. We’re always going to keep a good face and support our competitors because they’ve worked just as hard as we have for that moment,” Biles said on TODAY Aug. 6.

“So you have to give them their flowers,” she continued. “And that’s exactly what me and Jordan were doing, and we were so happy for her. She deserved it. She had the best floor routine of the day and in the Olympics. So it’s like, yeah, she deserved it.”

After the bow, Andrade reached for their hands. The iconic moment immediately went viral on social media, as fans commended the sweet moment of sportsmanship and sisterhood.

Biles won the silver medal with her floor routine, and Chiles scooped up the bronze. After submitting an inquiry into Chiles’ score, the judges gave her a new score that sent her onto the podium.

When the results came in, Biles was right there next to Chiles celebrating her win.

“She’s worked so hard for that moment. We really put those routines in, in training … no matter what pressure we’re under, they tried to make us hit as many routines as possible — like well done,” she said.

“And so just to see how excited Jordan was, and I knew that meant the world to her,” she continued. “I was so happy for her because it’s been a long run and we’ve done this for so long together and competing again on an Olympic stage is crazy.”

Biles added she shared a special moment with Chiles once the competition had ended and the pair were back in the Olympic Village together.

SIMONE BILES

“Yesterday, once we got back to the village, I looked at Jordan and I just started bawling my eyes out,” Biles said. “She was like, ‘I knew it was gonna happen. I just didn’t know when!’ And I think it was just, I was so full of emotion and I finally released all of that.”

“I was so proud, happy, bittersweet that the journey is over. It’s so crazy, it happened so quick — my third Olympics,” she continued.

During warmups for the floor routine, Biles fell and then re-taped her calf before she performed her final floor routine. It appears that Biles has been dealing with a lower-leg injury since the beginning of the gymnastics competition in Paris.

She arrived on TODAY wearing a boot, which she said was just precautionary.

“We’re resting up as much as possible. We have tour in a couple of weeks, so I’m just gonna rest and heal,” Biles said.

As for what is next for Biles, the 27-year-old didn’t rule out competing in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“You know, you never say never,” she said. “The next Olympics is on home turf, so you just never know.”

Biles concluded: “I’m just gonna relax and see where life takes me.”

The Olympian also shared that she and her husband Jonathan Owens want to become parents in the future.

“Me and Jonathan always talk about kids, and he would have had them like, yesterday, if he could have,” she said. “Obviously we both have goals that we want to achieve before we start a family. But yes, that’s definitely in our future.”

PARIS, Aug 6 (Reuters) – Simone Biles is leaving Paris with her head held high, proud of becoming a three-time Olympian and continuing to show the world how dominant she is in gymnastics, and doing it with grace. At the Games, the 27-year-old collected gold medals in the team, all-around and vault competitions, as well as a silver on the floor exercise. Reflecting on her Paris experience on Tuesday, the 11-time Olympic medallist told Reuters that while she is still processing the events of the last couple of weeks, she is proud of her determination. “(I am) just showing my strength through and through and just coming out on top each and every time so I’m just really proud of that,” she said.

Biles, who was 19 when she won four gold medals and a bronze at the Rio Games, has learned a lot about herself in the past eight years, though she was not certain she would ever return to the world stage after the Tokyo Games in 2021, when she withdrew with a potentially dangerous mental block known as the “twisties”.
Simone Biles
When asked about the 2024 version of herself, she responded: “A hard worker, dedicated, strong, beautiful, smart.” Behind the scenes, she plays the role of mentor, praised by teammate Sunisa Lee for being a confidence booster. “Having (my teammates) there to lean on was absolutely amazing and I wouldn’t have made it through without them,” Lee told Reuters. But more than a support role for her teammates, Biles hopes to inspire young gymnasts, athletes and even adults to gain confidence and trust in themselves and learn how to handle tough times. “Never give up, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. I know it’s hard and everybody goes through hard things but you’re going to come out on top,” she said.
Having regularly worked with a therapist since Tokyo, Biles tries to stay lighthearted in her approach to competing on the big stage, and she does not have any pre-competition rituals.
“I’m not very superstitious, (I) just go with the flow,” she said.

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Simone Biles was left fuming with Olympics fans for ‘shushing’ in the middle of her balance beam routine on Monday after a rare mistake saw her miss out on a medal.

JUST IN: Simone Biles reveals 1 question that’s ‘really gotta stop’ being asked to Olympic athletes

SUNI LEE

Before she recovered from a nasty slip in her warmup to win silver in the floor final, Biles failed to make it onto the podium for the first time at this summer’s Paris Games after she briefly lost her footing and was forced to step off the beam.

As a result, the American gymnastics legend did not add to her tally of three gold medals after receiving a disappointing score of 13.100.

Biles’ USA teammate Suni Lee, who suffered a more disastrous fall when she came flying off the beam at the end of her routine, revealed that both of them were thrown off by the ‘tense’ atmosphere inside Bercy Arena.

As they cheered their teammates on, Lee claims athletes were subjected to ‘shushing’ noises on the sidelines with the crowd urging them to be quiet.

‘You could feel the tension in the room. I mean, the crowd shushing us for cheering,’ the 21-year-old said after getting the same score of 13.100.

‘We did not like that, just because it’s just so silent in there. I love hearing my teammates cheer for me.’

Lee then recalled Biles fuming after her routine came to an end. ‘Me and Simone were like, “Why are they shushing?” Like, we’re just trying to cheer.

‘But yeah, [Biles] came off and she was like, “I don’t know why they were shushing in the middle of my routine.”‘

When television cameras cut to her after the routine, Biles appeared to be asking her coach why fans were shushing in the venue.

Lee went on to describe the atmosphere inside Bercy Arena as being eerily quiet, which she believes may have contributed to their errors on the day.

‘I could literally hear myself breathing.’

Biles still had another chance to win her fourth medal of this summer’s Olympics later in the day, which she did after taking silver in the women’s floor final.

SEE MORE: Olympics gymnastics live updates: Simone Biles wins gold, Suni Lee bronze in women’s all-around final

SIMONE BILES

The 27-year-old, who has become USA’s most decorated gymnast of all time in Paris by taking her overall Olympics medal tally to 10, has already won team, all-around and vault titles over the past week.

However, the slight stumble on the beam meant she missed out on the opportunity to add to the bronzes she won in this event at the 2016 and 2020 Games.

Wearing a blue-and-white leotard featuring over 5,000 crystals, Biles was more than halfway through her set when she couldn’t quite keep her balance.

She hopped off the beam and onto the mat while thousands inside a packed Bercy Arena let out an audible gasp.

There was an extended wait for her score to post. At one point, Biles rolled her eyes in seeming annoyance knowing she wasn’t going to finish on the medal stand.

Simone Biles’ strong finish not enough after faltering on beam | Paris Olympics
Simone Biles is forced to reset after losing her balance and is able to finish strong, but it’s not enough to claim a podium spot in the beam final.

Biles finished in a tie for fifth with Lee, whose hopes for a gold on beam she’s long coveted ended in the middle of her routine when she fell during the end of her acro series, just like the former did a few minutes later.

As she warmed up for the floor final, Biles appeared to injure her calf muscle after slipping on the mat.

She then went on to post a score of 14.133 on the floor, which was not enough for the gold medal after Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade scored 14.166 to hold onto first place.

Instead Biles was forced to settle for silver in her final event at this summer’s Games, meaning she leaves Paris with four medals in the bag.

There were fears for the 10-time medalist before she started her performance though after she was left grimacing as she finished her practice routine.

She then went to get medical attention and came back wearing a strapping on her left leg. Biles also appeared to be limping as she tried to walk off the injury.

RELATED: 2024 Olympic schedule for Aug. 5: Simone Biles goes for 2 more medals in potential Olympics farewell

Simone Biles is just trying to soak in the moment.

Biles has further cemented her legacy as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time after she took home the gold medal in the women’s vault final on Saturday, marking her third gold medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Biles is just the second woman in Olympic history to win the vault twice, having claimed top of the podium at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.

However, these are her third Olympic Games – only five people have competed in four.

Biles will be 31 by the time the Los Angeles games come around, and while she’s shown no signs of slowing down in Paris, that’s certainly considered “elderly” in gymnastics.

But again, Biles is still rewriting the history books, and just wants to enjoy it. So, she took a subtle shot at, perhaps, the media and just about everyone else who asks a specific question.

“you guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics. let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for,” the now seven-time Olympic gold medalist posted on X Sunday.

She won gold in the women’s gymnastics all-around team final earlier this week, to move past Shannon Miller to have more Olympic medals than any other American gymnast with eight total. But on Thursday, Biles went for more hardware in the women’s individual all-around, clinching her sixth gold medal with a dazzling floor exercise routine.

A day after the conclusion of Olympic swimming, gymnastics will crown its final champions in Paris.

That means two more chances on Monday to watch Simone Biles in what could be her final Olympic appearances. Track and field continues to ramp up and will award four more medals, and U.S. women will go for an improbable gold medal in 3×3 basketball after starting Olympic play with an 0-3 record.

Meanwhile, men’s soccer will set up a championship final, and U.S. teams will be busy in beach volleyball knockout matches.

Here’s what we’re looking forward to most on Sunday in Paris:

Simone Biles is back for more hardware along with two of her U.S. teammates. The now 10-time Olympic medalist (7 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze) returns to the Olympic gym on Monday to compete in the balance beam (6:36 a.m. ET) and floor exercise (8:20 a.m. ET) finals, where she’ll be a top contender in both events. It might be the last time ever to watch Biles in Olympic competition.

USA’s Sunisa Lee will be among her competitors in the balance beam final. USA’s Jordan Chiles will challenge her on the floor. Biles’ Brazilian rival Rebeca Andrade (all-around silver medalist) will compete in both events.

Men’s gymnastics will crown champions on the parallel bars (5:45 a.m. ET) and the horizontal bar (7:31 a.m. ET) on the final day of gymnastics competition in Paris. No U.S. athletes made the final in either event.

Simone Biles
(FILES) In this file photo taken on July 25, 2021 USA’s Simone Biles competes in the floor event of the artistic gymnastic women’s qualification during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo on July 25, 2021. – Simone Biles withdrew from another Olympic final on August 1, 2021. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)

Check your local listings and streaming alternatives (Peacock and NBCOlympics.com) as not all events will air live on NBC depending on your timezone.

The track and field competition is in full swing and will crown four champions on Monday. The men’s pole vault final kicks off the medal competition at 1 p.m. ET (NBC). USA’s Sam Kendricks will compete for his second Olympic medal after securing bronze in 2016.

Up next on the medal stage is the women’s discus final (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC), where USA’s Valarie Allman will compete for her second Olympic medal after securing gold in Tokyo. The women’s 5,000-meter final (3:10 p.m. ET, NBC) will feature USA’s Elise Cranny, Karissa Schweizer and Whittni Morgan competing against Kenyan favorite Faith Kipyegon.

The medal action concludes with the women’s 800-meter final (3:47 p.m. ET, NBC), where USA’s Juliette Whittaker will fight for a podium spot in a field featuring favorites Keely Hodgkinson (Great Britain) and Mary Moraa (Kenya). Men (1:55 p.m. ET, NBC) and women (2:45 p.m. ET, NBC) will also run in preliminary 200-meter competition.

After starting the Olympics with three straight losses, the U.S. women are a win away from securing a medal in 3×3 basketball.

USA’s Dearica Hamby, Hailey Van Lith, Cierra Burdick and Rhyne Howard won their last four games of pool play and will take on Spain in Monday’s first semifinal (11:30 a.m. ET). Canada and Germany will compete in the second semifinal (12:30 p.m. ET, USA).

The semifinal losers will compete for the bronze medal at 3 p.m. ET (streaming, check local listings). The winners will play for gold at 4:05 p.m. ET (NBC).

Men will also crown a 3×3 champion from a semifinal group featuring Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia and France. Team USA is done after a stunning 21-6 loss to Netherlands to conclude pool play. The men’s gold-medal game will air at 4:35 p.m. ET (NBC).

The men’s soccer tournament will narrow its field two in a semifinal round featuring host France.

Morocco and Spain will play in the first semifinal at noon, ET. France will take on Egypt in the 3 p.m. ET semifinal. The winners will be guaranteed medals and advance to the gold-medal game slated for Friday. Monday’s losers will play for the bronze medal on Thursday.

France is the favorite after defeating Argentina in a heated quarterfinal match on Friday and will have the backing of an enthusiastic home crowd. Team USA’s Olympics are done after losing to Morocco in the quarterfinals.

Three U.S. teams will compete in the beach volleyball Round of 16 on Monday.

Former NBA player Chase Budinger and partner Miles Evans start the U.S. action at 8 a.m. ET (Peacock and NBCOlympics.com) against Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway. At 11 a.m. ET (Peacock and NBCOlympics.com), USA’s Miles Partain and Andy Benesh will take on Italy’s Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava.

U.S. women Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss will take on Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson at noon ET (Peacock and NBCOlympics.com). The winner of each match will advance to the quarterfinals. The loser will be eliminated.

USA’s women’s team of Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng previously advance to the quarterfinals in a three-set thriller over Italy’s Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti on Sunday.

Simone Biles celebrated her three gold medals at the 2024 Olympics in Paris by posing for a set of eye-popping snaps with fellow Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles.

Barely 24 hours after the 27-year-old openly complained about reporters constantly asking her about ‘what’s next’ following her new achievements at the Olympics this summer, Biles took to social media to put her close bond with Chiles, 23, on display.

‘red, white, biles&chiles,’ she captioned her post on Instagram.

The pair can be seen hanging out on a balcony in what presumably is the Olympic Village, which is located in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.

Both gymnasts wore booty shorts with ‘TEAM USA’ printed on them as they also showed off their back muscles with crop tops.

Chiles also posted a series of pics with Biles on Instagram.

She wrote ‘team usa girlies…’ with a red heart emoji as a caption to her post.

After claiming gold in the teams finals, all-around events and women’s vault earlier this week, Biles expressed her frustration with the line of questioning taking place after her performances in Paris.

Simone Biles

Addressing reporters on X, she posted: ‘you guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics.’

Biles then added in another post: ‘let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for’.

When asked by a fan what does come next for her after winning another gold, she replied: ‘babysitting the medal’.

Biles’ victory in Saturday’s vault final handed her the seventh gold medal of her illustrious Olympics career.

In front of a star-studded crowd that included actor John Travolta, track star Allyson Felix, artists Pharrell and Flavor Flav, her teammates and her parents, she averaged 15.3 for her signature Yurchenko double pike and Cheng vaults to claim a second gold on the event eight years after she trumped in Rio.

It means Biles, who is already the most decorated gymnast in history, is now only the second woman to win two vault crowns after Vera Casalavska, of Czechoslovakia (1984 and 1968).

Biles has two more chances to boost her medal haul in Paris with balance beam and floor exercise finals on Monday.

Taylor Swift saluted Team USA stars Simone Biles, Sha’Carri Richardson, and Katie Ledecky in a new video for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The 34-year-old singer narrated a promo for the NBC Primetime Olympics which aired on August 3. Unsurprisingly, the ad featured one of Swift’s hit songs, “Style,” from her re-released album, 1989.

The video included shots from this year’s Games including Biles on the mat and Richardson on the track. “Never be afraid to show them who you are,” Swift says in a voiceover. “Especially when the whole world is watching.”

The promo also featured a video of Ledecky diving into a swimming pool during an Olympic event.

“Because there’s no one way to be the best. No one way to inspire everyone else who will someday follow,” Swift continued.

The promo went on to pay tribute to the American athletes with one shot of Biles waving at the crowd, after doing an impressive flip on the mat, and another of Richardson giving a fan a high-five.

“You do what you love. You love what you do,” Swift said. Her song went on to play, with her singing: “We never go out of style.”

Swift’s moving message then referenced her song, as she said: “Believe in your style. Whatever it is.”

The video continued with shots of Ledecky cheering in the pool, Biles smiling on the mat, and Richardson showing off her long, painted nails for the camera. The Grammy-Award winner then gave a sweet shout-out to each of these Olympians.

“Katie, Sha’Carri, and Simone, three American stars, three different visions of greatness,” she said.

The promos is a dedication to three of the most successful US atheletes in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Biles has 10 Olympic medals so far, as she won three of her gold ones during this year’s Olympics. Meanwhile, Ledecky has more than 14 Olympic medals, four of which she won during this year’s Olympics.

During the the women’s 100-meter final on August 3, Richardson took home the silver, marking the fan-favorite’s first-ever Olympic medal win.

Simone Biles

This isn’t the first time that Swift has honored US Olympians, and has close ties with Biles. During the 2024 US Olympic Gymnastic Trials on June 27, Biles competed in the qualifiers with an incredible floor routine set to Swift’s 2017 song: “…Ready For It?”

On June 29, Swift responded to the gymnastics legend by reposting a video of her floor routine to X. “Watched this so many times and still unready. She’s ready for it tho,” Swift posted.

After Biles withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021, due to her mental health, Swift showed her support in a moving video tribute for the gymnast. As the singer narrated the clip, set to her 2020 song “This Is Me Trying,” she acknowledged the public scrutiny that Biles faced.

“What do we want from our heroes? What do we expect of them? What do we need from them? What happens when they surprise us?” Swift said. “When you have the attention of the world, everything you do takes on a bigger meaning. It can be a heavy burden. It can be a chance to change everything.”

Biles responded to the message from Swift on X at the time, writing: “I’m crying. How special. I love you Taylor Swift.”

The singer then replied: “I cried watching YOU. I feel so lucky to have gotten to watch you all these years, but this week was a lesson in emotional intelligence and resilience. We all learned from you. Thank you.”

Simone Biles has issued a public appeal supporting fellow Olympic champions after being asked in Paris about her future during which she did not ruled out competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Simone Biles wants fellow Olympic champions to be given time to enjoy their winning moments.

After earning her third gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and answering questions about her future at a press conference, the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history issued a public appeal.

“You guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics,” Simone, who has won seven Olympic gold medals and 10 overall since her debut at the Games in Rio in 2016, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, Aug. 4. “Let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for.”

A day earlier, the 27-year-old came in first place in the women’s gymnastics individual vault final, which followed her gold medal victory in the individual all-around competition and Team USA’s collective No. 1 performance at the team final earlier in the week.

At an Aug. 3 press conference, Biles spoke about her Olympic future.

Asked if she had taken part in her final vault competition, Biles referenced her winning performance from earlier that day, saying, “Is this my last? Definitely the Yurchenko double pike. I mean, I kind of nailed that one.”

Biles then gave a hint about whether she would compete at all in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, which would mark her fourth Olympic run.

“Never say never,” the athlete said. “The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know.”

She added, laughing, “But I am getting really old.”

While Biles is not the oldest Olympic champion, she is the oldest Olympic all-around winner in 72 years since Maria Gorokhovskaya competed at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 at age 30. And former Team USA gymnast Marie Margaret Hoesley was 35 when she took part in the same competition.

The oldest gymnast to compete in the Olympic Games is Uzbek athlete Oksana Chusovitina, who was 46 when she took part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Read on to relive some of the most emotional moments from the 2024 Paris Olympics…

Aug. 1: Gymnastics

Simone Biles

USA gymnast Simone Biles beams after winning gold in the women’s all-around final, sporting her “GOAT” necklace.

Aug. 1: Tennis

Great Britain’s Andy Murray—who announced his retirement before the Paris Games—tearfully bids farewell to the crowd after being eliminated alongside Dan Evans in the men’s doubles.

Aug. 1: Table Tennis

Tomokazu Harimoto of Team Japan lets off some steam during his match against China’s Fan Zhendong.

Aug. 1: Swimming

Men’s 200m backstroke silver medalist Apostolos Christou of Greece gets emotional while standing on the podium.

Aug. 1: Tennis

Spanish tennis Carlos Alcaraz lets out a victorious scream after defeating Tommy Paul of Team USA in men’s single.

July 31: Diving

Great Britain’s bronze medalists Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson share a raw moment after the women’s synchronized 10m platform diving final.

July 31: Soccer

Korbin Albert gets emotional after scoring a goal in the women’s soccer game.

July 31: Swimming

Team Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem celebrates her gold medal in the Women’s 100m Freestyle Final.

July 31: Swimming

Team USA’s Katie Ledecky reacts to winning gold in the Women’s 1500m Freestyle Final.

July 31: Swimming

French swimmer Anastasiia Kirpichnikova cries tears of joy after seeing her silver medal-winning time in women’s 1500m freestyle event.

July 31: Judo

Serbia’s Nemanja Majdov (L) and Greece’s Theodoros Tselidis (R) share a moment after their round in the men’s 90kg round of 16 in judo. Tselildis, who beat Majdov, later won the bronze medal.

July 31: Sabre

Manon Apithy-Brunet (L) kisses her husband France’s Bolade Apithy after his team beat Egypt.

July 31: Triathalon

Gold medalist Alex Yee of Team Great Britain and silver medalist Hayden Wilde of Team New Zealand share a subtle celebratory moment after crossing the finish line.

t had just turned 20 minutes past eight when Simone Biles stepped out on to the floor for her final routine. The centre of the arena was quiet and still, every other apparatus vacant. She had the place to herself and the undivided ­attention of every single person there.

Zinedine Zidane was watching, so was Steph Curry, Tony Hawk and Nadia Comaneci, four of the finest athletes of the past hundred years, all come along to see another of them. Like Comaneci said in a live interview on the big screen at the beginning of the session: “Everyone’s here to see the amazing Simone Biles.” She waited a beat then added: “And 23 other gymnasts.”

With Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps gone, Biles is the last of the great Olympic stars of the 21st ­century who is still competing in the Games. She is the biggest draw here, the one athlete who can persuade people who do not much like or care for sport to switch on and watch the best to ever do it.

What they got was something even rarer again; a contest between Biles and the second-best gymnast in the world, her heir apparent, Rebeca Andrade from Brazil. For years, ­everyone else has been competing for second. Biles has not lost an all-around competition since 2013, when she was beaten by her US teammate, Kyla Ross, at the 2013 Chemnitz Friendly. But for the first time in a long time, one of her competitors had a real chance of beating her. Andrade, 25, who won the silver in this event in 2021, and has been closing in on Biles’s scores ever since.

Andrade beat her in the vault at the world championships last year. Biles even passed her a pretend crown when they stood on the podium afterwards. Almost everyone, even Andrade’s own coaches, agree that she has not caught her yet. When they are both at their very best, Biles wins. But she could not afford to make too many mistakes: a slip here or a ­stumble there and Andrade would be waiting to overtake her.

Simone Biles
(FILES) In this file photo taken on July 25, 2021 USA’s Simone Biles competes in the floor event of the artistic gymnastic women’s qualification during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo on July 25, 2021. – Simone Biles withdrew from another Olympic final on August 1, 2021. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)

And it nearly happened. On the uneven bars, which has always been Biles’s weakest apparatus, she flew too high on a transition and had to bend her knees to avoid hitting the mat as she grasped the low bar. She recovered brilliantly and stuck the landing of a spectacular dismount with a double twist, double backflip. But the way she swore as she walked across the floor to her coach told you everything about what had happened. She scored a lowly 13.733, and dropped into third place behind Andrade and Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour.

“At that point,” Biles said afterwards, “I’m not sure what I was doing, but praying to every single god out there.”

From then on, Biles had no margin of error left. “I’ve never been so stressed!” she said, “thank you Rebeca!” She needed to be near perfect. And she was. There was barely so much as a wobble on the balance beam and her score of 14.566 was enough to put her back into the lead before the final rotation.

Andrade scored 14.033 on the floor, which meant Biles needed at least 13.868 to win. It was in doubt for as long as it took to land her first spectacular triple-double tumble and the minute her feet hit the floor you just knew what was going to happen.

Biles won the gold by 1.199 points, At 27, she is the oldest woman to take the all-around title in more 70 years, the third to win two of them and the first to do it in Games that were not back-to-back.

Her US teammate Sunisa Lee claimed the bronze medal, while the British duo of Alice Kinsella and Georgia-Mae Fenton improved on their qualifying positions, finishing in 12th and 18th respectively.

“I’m tired,” Biles said with a big grin. “Rebeca’s way too close. I’ve never had an athlete that close and it definitely put me on my toes. It brought out the best athlete in me, but mmm-hmm, I don’t like it guys, I was stressing out out there.”

It was good to see her laughing about it all as she spoke. It was not so long ago Biles thought she was done with her sport after she came down with that case of the twisties in Tokyo.

“Three years ago, I never thought I would step foot on the gymnastics floor again, just because of everything that had happened,” she said. “Before Tokyo, I was so nervous about getting injured that I neglected my mental health and that meant I ended up getting injured. It was a mental injury and that was almost harder than it being a physical injury, because with a physical injury the doctor can tell you ‘it will be three to six weeks’ or ‘three to six months’ but with a mental injury you can only say ‘time will tell’.”

She has been in therapy since then and was again on the morning of the final, just like she is “every Thursday”.

Biles’s willingness to talk openly about what she has come through to compete here has changed her sport, maybe more than any of the eponymous tricks she has developed and perfected over the years.

Asked if she had a last message, Biles, who was now wearing a diamond necklace in the shape of a goat, said: “Keep your head on straight, have fun, and dream big.” And remember, she added later: “It’s not over till it’s over.”

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