Perhaps their all-around success wasn’t the most unexpected moment of the Rio games, but it was certainly one of the most unforgettable. “Except for Simone Biles’s floor routine”. When she became the first black gymnastics world champion in 2013, Carlotta Ferlito, an Italian gymnast, told a journalist that she had joked with a friend that they should “also paint our skin black, so then we could win, too”.
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Harry How/Getty Images Sport/Getty ImagesRIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 11: Simone Biles (L) and Alexandra Raisman (R) of the United States celeberates after winning the gold and silver during the Women’s Individual All Around Final on Day 6 of the 2016 Rio Olympics at Rio Olympic Arena on August 11, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Biles has four more gymnastics events remaining during this Olympic competition – the Women’s uneven bars, beam, vault, and the Women’s floor exercise.
That’s why it was doubly exhilarating to watch as the US ladies clawed their way to the top of the leaderboard, finishing the evening with both gold and silver medals (for Biles and Raisman, respectively). “I just have to stay focused when I go into my event finals”.
On a night where Michael Phelps won the 26 Olympic medal of his life – 22 of which are gold – he wasn’t the biggest headline.
Lochte’s unusual hair aside, here’s how good he is: He’s gunning for his 13th medal on Thursday, which would make him the most decorated swimmer in Olympic history not named Phelps.
But after four years of dedicating herself to the goal of proving she is worthy of a podium finish, the huge relief in her moment of success showed just how much it means.
Some of her fellow competitors believe that’s exactly where the 4-foot-8 dynamo is heading.
“I think this is probably one of the best rounds of golf I’ve ever played”, Fraser told the Golf Channel. “Most people don’t go in thinking they can beat Usain Bolt either, it’s kind of the same thing”.
After becoming the first African-American woman to claim an individual Olympic medal in swimming, Simone Manuel said her victory in the 100-meter freestyle had even more meaning.
In victory, she said the win isn’t exclusively for her.
Texan Simone Biles has won another gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Biles is a whirlpool of motion on vault, a handspringing trapeze artist on the four-inch balance beam, a bouncing ball of complex choreography on floor.
It gets a little trickier after that, if only because of unfortunate timing.
She spoke of the difficulty in being a rare black swimmer on the American team, how it has attracted positive attention but at the same time brought a burden. On Thursday night, they continued to lead the competition at the women’s gymnastics finals.
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She even has a move named after her, because she was the gymnast to land an advanced move, including a half-twist and blind landing in a competition.
