Paris (AFP) – Simone Biles buried her demons to recapture the Olympic gymnastics all-around crown on Thursday, warning she was ready to have fun as she targets three more gold in Paris. The American saw off Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade to claim her sixth Olympic gold and second in the French capital. She could collect three more in the vault, floor exercise, and balance beam to match the record of nine titles held by Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina.
“I’m just ecstatic with my performances tonight,” she said. “And we still have three finals left for me. Now it’s time to have fun, and the hard part is over.” Biles, who famously withdrew from multiple events at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago with the disorientating “twisties,” followed up her team gold with the United States earlier this week.
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“It’s been eight years,” said Biles, who won four gold medals in Rio de Janeiro but struggled in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games. “Three years ago I never thought I’d step foot on a gymnastics floor again just because of everything that had happened,” the 27-year-old said. “But with the help of (coaches) Cecile and Laurent (Landi), I got back in the gym and worked really hard mentally and physically. Even this morning at 7:00 am I saw my therapist, and there’s a time change.”
Biles became the first gymnast to reclaim the individual title. She capped her performance with an electrifying floor routine to Taylor Swift’s hit song “Ready for It,” her high-flying tumbling bringing the crowd to its feet. She scored 59.131 points to finish 1.199 ahead of Andrade, with defending Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee of the United States sealing bronze, having trailed in fourth going into the final rotation.
It was the first time that two women’s Olympic all-around champions have gone head-to-head chasing a second crown. The United States has now won the event six times in a row — and a record seven times overall. Biles has won nine Olympic medals including six golds and donned a silver necklace of a goat after her performance — a nod to her being considered the greatest gymnast of all time.
**- Stars turn out -**
Once again, the stars were out for Biles, with Team USA basketball stars Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry watching at Bercy Arena, along with NBA legend Tony Parker, footballing great Zinedine Zidane, and American model Kendall Jenner. On her first rotation, Biles opened with her stunning Yurchenko double pike vault — now known as the Biles II — earning 15.766 despite a big step back, to the delight of the crowd. She pulled 0.666 points ahead of Olympic vault champion Andrade, who scored 15.100 for her perfectly executed but technically less difficult Cheng. Lee was trailing down in a distant seventh.
But Biles dropped to third after an error on uneven bars, allowing Andrade to move ahead with Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour in second and Lee in fifth. “I was probably praying to every single god out there trying to refocus and recentre myself because that’s not the bars that I’ve been training,” said Biles. The meditation paid off as Biles was back in front after the balance beam, flashing a massive smile and high-fiving as she received a standing ovation for an effort worth 14.566.
She had a slim margin of 0.166 on Andrade, who had a few wobbles on the beam, with all to play for heading into the floor routine finale. Biles finished with a flourish on the floor, drawing gasps from the crowd with her gravity-defying jumps including two of her own skills. Andrade, 25, knew she had been well beaten, and the Brazilian, the Tokyo silver medallist, went over to congratulate and hug her rival even before the winning score of 15.066 flashed up.
“What happened in Tokyo was a difficult situation,” said Andrade of her rival. “Here she was back to 100 percent and gave her maximum. That was great to see.” Biles becomes the third woman to win two Olympic all-around gold after Latynina and Czech Vera Caslavska. For Lee, a medal was remarkable after coming back from a career-threatening kidney condition.
“Six months ago I didn’t even consider I would be here competing today,” said the 21-year-old. “I’m just proud because nobody really believed in me. It’s about not giving up.”
© 2024 AFP
