PARIS:
It definitely was not the ending Simone Biles was expecting as she was surprisingly upstaged in the floor exercise final by Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade — but a silver medal on Monday capped the American’s remarkable Olympic comeback.
Stepping out of bounds with both feet at the end of two of her four tumbling passes meant she missed out on the top prize in the floor final, with the sixth tenths of a point penalty she incurred making the difference between gold and silver.
That did not stop Biles from earning an 11th Olympic medal.
She also proved to be the ultimate team player as she whopped with joy and hugged Jordan Chiles tightly after her friend was promoted from fifth to the bronze-medal position following a successful enquiry submitted by the Americans right at the end of the competition.
Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, admitted that exhaustion had started to set in on the final day of a gruelling competition.
“Obviously wasn’t my best performances but at the end of the day, whoever medalled, medalled,” she said.
Simone Biles of United States in action, Bercy Arena, Paris, France, August 05, 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS
“And that’s what’s so exciting, because you just never know with gymnastics. So I’m not very upset or anything about my performance at the Olympics. I’m actually very happy, proud and even more excited that it’s over.”
Biles was heavily favoured coming into the final given the difficulty of her high-flying floor routine but paid a heavy price for those mistakes as she lost out on winning a fourth gold medal of these Games.
Andrade claimed the top prize for producing a near flawless, albeit less difficult, display which was rewarded with a score of 14.166 from the judges.
Biles’ routine got off to a promising start when she nailed her triple-twisting double back but the power she generated during the tumbling sequences left her completely stepping out of bounds on her next attempt.
She again found herself out of the marked area on her final pass.
The flawed performance left her anxiously looking up at the scoreboard and when her mark of 14.133 flashed up, she found her name below Andrade’s on the standings. She lost the gold medal by just 0.033 of a point.
Read also: Simone Biles falls, finishes fifth on balance beam at Paris Olympics
Proving there were no hard feelings, a beaming Biles then joined Chiles in hailing the new Olympic floor exercise queen.
The American duo turned to face Andrade and then bowed to her from the lower platforms of the podium as the Brazilian stepped up to accept her prize with her arms raised high — a moment that quickly went viral.
“She’s so amazing. She’s a queen,” Biles said of Andrade, who had finished runner-up to Biles in the all-around and vault finals.
“First, it was an all Black podium, so that was very exciting for us. But then Jordan was like, should we bow to her? And I was like, absolutely.”
The final day of the artistic gymnastics programme also saw Biles suffer disappointment in the balance beam final, finishing fifth after slipping off that apparatus. Italian Alice D’Amato was the surprise winner in a competition where four of the eight finalists suffered falls.
Despite the less-than-ideal finale, the Paris Games still marks a triumphant comeback for the 27-year-old Biles, who led the US to the team title and won the all-around and vault gold medals.
Rebeca Andrade of Brazil in action, Bercy Arena, Paris, France, August 05, 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS
She withdrew from the Tokyo Games three years ago suffering from a mental block known as the “twisties” – a temporary loss of spatial awareness experienced by some gymnasts when completing high-difficulty elements.
Her withdrawal caused concern among her vast fan base about whether she would ever set foot on the Olympic stage again as Biles took a two-year break from the sport.
She returned healthy, happy and as dominant as ever as she qualified for her third Games and has not ruled out competing at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
“I’ve accomplished way more than my wildest dreams,” Biles said.
“Not just at this Olympics, but in the sport. So I can’t be mad at my performances.”
