In a recent interview with Us Magazine, she revealed that she carried a white rosary in her gym bag. “It means the world to me”, she noted.
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Biles said: “I’m very excited and relieved because I’ve finally done it”.
Biles, already an Olympic champion after leading the “Final Five” to gold in the team event, was briefly challenged by European champion Mustafina.
Biles accumulated 62,198 points in the all-around competition on Thursday, with the silver medal going to her compatriot Alexandra Raisman, with 60,098, and the bronze to Russia’s Aliya Mustafina, with 58,665.
However, Biles, with her fingernails and eyelids colored gold, far and away exceeded that, earning the best scores in the balance beam, floor exercises and vault.
This is the 17th medal for the Russian national team at the Rio Games.
Her triumph makes her the fourth American in succession to win the title – following the successes of Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin and Gabby Douglas – which is the longest winning streak by a country in the Olympic discipline.
“I’m not a celebrity”.
“It’s wonderful to be recognised for all of this success, (but) I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps, I’m the first Simone Biles”. Not only is she the first female gymnast since 1974 to win four consecutive all-around titles at the USA national championships, but she’s also the first woman ever to be the all-around world champion three years in a row.
The silver is her fifth Olympic medal overall.
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“I’ll just pray normally to myself, but it’s there just in case”.
