Simone Biles’s potential final Olympic appearance concluded on Monday with the floor exercise finale, in which she narrowly missed out on gold to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade by a margin of 0.033 points.
The 27-year-old, noted as history’s most highly decorated female gymnast and the first American woman since the 1950s to qualify for the Olympic gymnastics team, boosted her total to four medals during the Paris Games, following her previous wins in the team category, the all-around, and the vault. Biles’s exceptional Olympic journey, spanning over eight years, now boasts 11 medals.
Biles, who competed as the seventh in a field of nine finalists, received a standing ovation following her remarkable performance, during which she performed the signature Biles II triple double in the opening pass and a Biles I double layout with half twist in the third, but was penalised for stepping out of bounds resulting in falling behind Andrade by 0.033 points.
The United States’ Jordan Chiles clinched the bronze, advancing from fifth to third after an inquiry. She was overwhelmed with joy when her revised score of 13.766 was displayed – just 0.066 points ahead of Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea from Romania.
In her remarkable career, Biles has accumulated 41 medals across the Olympics and world championships, reaffirming her status as the most decorated female gymnast.
“Following my performance, I couldn’t be more proud of my achievements,” she expressed later. “At the age of 27, leaving these Games with an addition of four medals to my repertoire, I have no grievances.”
With her second career gold, alongside her three silvers and one bronze, the popular Andrade rose to the ranks of the most decorated Brazilian Olympian. Andrade’s first golden victory was in Tokyo 2020 vault following Biles’s withdrawal.
Prior to this, Biles unfortunately fell during her balance beam routine on Monday, missing out on securing her fourth medal and ending in fifth place, just one position ahead of her American comrade Suni Lee, who also encountered a fall.
In a surprising turn of events, it was Italy’s Alice D’Amato who claimed victory in the artistic gymnastics final at the recent Olympics, the first time an Italian has ever won gold in the event. The 21-year-old, originally from Brescia, managed to steer clear of significant errors in her routine, securing herself the title over her competitor, Manila Esposito who received bronze. Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee, who both scored the same, ended up in fifth place, while Zhou Yaqin of China secured silver.
It’s been a historic week for Italy’s gymnastic team, with this being their first win in artistic gymnastics for nearly a century. Despite heavy competition and intense pressure, D’Amato and Esposito remained collected, outperforming several revered participants who ended up mired in mistakes. Given the harsh conditions of the beam event, a particularly risky platform expecting complex routines four feet above the ground and only slightly wider than a credit card, their victory is indeed impressive.
The final day witnessed its fair share of upsets with Zhou, who had won silver at last year’s world championships, stumbling mid-way through, causing an audible reaction from the spectators and resulting in a disappointing score of 14.100, down from a qualifying score of 14.866.
Meanwhile, Lee suffered a slip on her last skill, leading to a painful split on the beam. Despite the setback, her coach, Jess Graba, comforted her post-routine, recognizing her efforts and remarkable journey overcoming serious kidney problems to participate in the Olympics. Lee’s fall left an opportunity open for Biles to become the third US gymnast to clinch the beam champion title, after Shawn Johnson and Shannon Miller.
Initially, D’Amato flawlessly executed her performance on the apparatus scoring a commendable 13.466, which not only propelled her to the top spot but also assured her of a medal. The spectators responded with enthusiastic cheers.
It looked like Biles was poised to secure her eighth Olympic gold and first ever in the beam event. Unfortunately, she stumbled and exited the beam during a back handspring-layout stepout-layout stepout sequence, an unusual slip-up considering her past performances. Regardless, she reclaimed her spot on the beam and nailed her dismount. After a lengthy wait, she was awarded a score of 14.100, equal to Lee’s, but not high enough for a medal.
Earlier that day, China’s Zou Jingyuan clinched the gold in the men’s parallel bars gymnastics event, the first man in over three decades to bag medals on both the rings and bars at the same Olympics. Illia Kovtun from Ukraine secured silver while Shinnosuke Oka from Japan managed bronze.
In the men’s horizontal bar final, mistakes were made by many, but Oka emerged victorious earning his third Olympic gold. Angel Barajas from Colombia, a young new talent, walked away with silver. Meanwhile, China’s Zhang Boheng and Taiwan’s Tang Chia-hung tied for the bronze. – Guardian