The next three for Simone Biles could be for the record books. During that run, she won a record 10 gold medals and 14 overall.
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Halfway through the women’s all-around final, Simone Biles was in an unfamiliar, unthinkable place: Second place, that is. Károlyi has appeared in 11 straight Olympics as either a coach or team coordinator, and coached Nadia Comaneci to her famous flawless “10” on the uneven bars at the 1976 Games.
Kayla Harrison became the first American to defend an Olympic judo title on Thursday, but that was only the beginning. She is the GOAT. She and Raisman joined Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson in 2008 as the only USA gymnasts to win gold and silver in the same Olympic final. And as the fourth American in a row to win gymnastics’ biggest prize, she gives the United States bragging rights no other country, in men’s or women’s gymnastics, can claim. Simone Manuel, who tied for Olympic gold on Thursday to become the first female African-American swimmer to win an individual event, was at it again.
Biles chirped “2020?”, hoping her friend will be coming along for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.
Aly Raisman, who won silver, acknowledged that Biles is just in another class.
Too young to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London, the 19-year-old has since been showing the world exactly what she’s made of in Rio.
As Raisman came off floor, she sobbed and waved to the crowd. I think it means a lot, especially what’s going on in the world today with some of the issues with police brutality. “This medal is not just for me”.
“It would be awesome and I … well, that’s insane to think about”, Biles said. She may be retiring from the sport, but Harrison, a former sparring partner with Ronda Rousey, may have other career plans.
“You’ve seen her legs and butt”, Boorman said. Raisman finished with a 60.098, Mustafina 58.665. Russia’s Aliya Mustafina took bronze with 58.665 points.
One last test awaited in Rio, a contest not so much between Biles and the rest of the field but between herself and the outsized expectations her dominance has created.
“That helped keep the nerves off me”, Manuel said. “I wasn’t upset. I was just relieved that bars were over, because I’ve been struggling with that”. She led her teammates to the team gold to kick off her Olympics, then calmly did her thing on the balance beam to take a commanding lead before capping off the night with a strong effort on the floor event. “That’s just her personality”. Of course, the current scoring system in place, with an emphasis on difficulty that Biles works to her advantage, has only been in place for three Olympics, including Rio.
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“She is”, said coach Marta Karolyi, “a force of nature”.
