Simone Biles and Team USA made it back to a familiar place: atop the Olympic podium.
Biles powered a dominant U.S. women’s team in the finals inside a loudly-filled Bercy Arena in Paris on Tuesday night.
The Americans’ total of 171.296 was well ahead of Italy and Brazil by over five points. With Biles at her show-stopping best, she cemented her legacy as the greatest ever in her sport, and among the best in the history of the Olympics by becoming the most decorated U.S. gymnast of all time.
Team USA brought home gold for the first time since the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The outcome of gold was never in doubt for the team from the moment Jordan Chiles began the night by drilling her double-twisting Yurchenko vault, or when she fell off the beam in the beginning of her routine. Or when Biles was seen crawling during the qualifying due to her left calf bothering her.
Biles stepped onto the floor for the final event, a floor exercise routine set to music by Taylor Swift and Beyonce, her fifth Olympic gold medal was well in hand.
The 27-year-old provided the exclamation point anyway, sealing the Americans’ third gold in its last four trips to the Games.
The Americans remain flawless when at their best.
And over two hours in front of a crowd that included everyone from tennis great Serena Williams and actor Natalie Portman to Biles’ husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, Biles left little doubt about anything.
Her ability to move past the “twisties” that derailed her in Tokyo.
Three years after removing herself from the same competition to protect her mental health, a decision that changed the conversation around mental health in sports, Biles pushed her medal total in major competition to a staggering 38 and counting.
Eight of those have come under the Olympic rings, moving her past Shannon Miller for the most by an American gymnast.
Yet her return wasn’t so much about winning. That’s never really been the point anyway, just a byproduct of her unparalleled excellence. It was about a joy she had lost somewhere along the way.
It seems to have returned. She leaned into the crowd that roared at every flip, every leap and, yes, every twist. With her husband waving an American flag and counting scores while sitting next to her parents, Biles did what she has done so well for so long save for a couple of difficult days in Japan during a pandemic: she dominated.
Yet the 27-year-old hardly did it alone. Lee and Chiles were on the team that earned silver in Tokyo with Biles watching from the sideline. They navigated a series of setbacks both physical and personal to return to this moment and get the gold they so badly wanted.
And there they were on the biggest stage, Chiles doing all four rotations right next to her good friend Biles while doubling as the American’s hype woman. Lee mixing her elegance with grit while dazzling on beam and uneven bars, her two best events.
Carey won the floor exercise in Tokyo, but did it with an asterisk of sorts. She had earned her way in through a nominative process the sport’s governing body has since abandoned. She was with Team USA in Tokyo but not actually part of the official four-woman squad.
She vowed to write a different ending this time, and the Cheng vault she did on the first rotation scored a 14.800 — second only to Biles — to give the U.S. a commanding lead before Biles even saluted the judges.
The only real drama centered on who would finish next to the Americans on the medal stand.
Italy, which was a surprising second to the U.S. during qualifying, earned its first Olympic team medal since 1928 by holding off Brazil, which took bronze for its first medal in the biggest event in the sport.
Yet there was no question about the top spot. There rarely ever is when Biles is involved.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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