Paris (AFP) – Simone Biles headlines a US women’s squad on a “redemption” mission at the Paris Olympics, where the gymnastics great is favored to add to her stash of four gold medals after a turbulent Tokyo campaign. Amid Biles’s highly publicized troubles with the “twisties” and her withdrawal from multiple events at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games, the US women settled for team silver.
With Biles back — along with Tokyo all-around gold medalist Suni Lee, Tokyo team silver medallist Jordan Chiles, and 2020 floor exercise champion Jade Carey — the Americans are odds-on favorites to regain the gold, and Biles herself agrees with that assessment. “Everybody probably looks at the team, like ‘OK, they went to Tokyo and this, this and this happened,'” she said. “And what are they going to do here in Paris?” But for us, I know we’re stronger than what we showed in Tokyo.”
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The absence of Russia only bolsters America’s team chances. China’s women boast formidable talent but have struggled with consistency and haven’t earned a team Olympic medal since their historic gold in Beijing in 2008 followed by bronze in 2016. Brazil, led by the exciting Rebeca Andrade, has emerged as the strongest challengers to the US and will be aiming to build on their team silver at the 2023 World Championships — the first team medal in the country’s history.
Other team medal contenders include European champions Italy, with European all-around champion Manila Esposito spearheading their bid for a first Olympic team medal since 1928. A strong French squad, led by Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos and three-time Olympian Marine Boyer, will be hoping to be buoyed by home fans, as China was in 2008. The French signaled their intentions with a historic team bronze at the World Championships last year.
Biles is the overwhelming favorite to reclaim the all-around crown she captured as part of scintillating four-gold haul in Rio de Janeiro. Lee could find herself with an unlikely chance to defend her title after battling not one but two career-threatening kidney ailments that require ongoing treatment, although Chiles also has a solid chance to grab the second all-around competition berth for the US. World champion Andrade, China’s Qiu Qiyuan, De Jesus Dos Santos, Esposito, and South Korean Yeo Seo-jeong — the Tokyo bronze medallist — will likely be in the medal mix. “Stability is key,” Qiu said after training at Bercy Arena. “I aim to be consistent, which is crucial for advancing to the finals.”
But Biles, who has boosted her degree of difficulty advantage with the addition of her Yurchenko double pike vault — now named the Biles II — will be the woman to beat. That stunning vault, which no other woman has attempted in competition, makes Biles the favorite to regain gold in that apparatus. Andrade will offer a fierce challenge in what promises to be a cracking event.
Algerian 17-year-old Kaliya Nemour has emerged as the uneven bars favorite with three World Cup victories in the event this year. Biles, who earned balance beam bronze in both Rio and Tokyo, has the skills to improve on that, as shown with her fourth beam world title last year. But teammate Lee has made no secret that after her health struggles — and past mishaps — she is focused on beam gold. “I need a beam gold because I feel like I always make the final and then I always mess up,” Lee said at the US trials.
Zhou Yaqin, who took silver behind Biles at last year’s worlds, signalled her Olympic intentions with an upgraded routine and an impressive score of 15.466 at the Chinese championships. Floor exercise will feature the last two Olympic champions in Biles and teammate Carey.
© 2024 AFP
