That’s why so many were crushed and disappointed when the United States gymnast stumbled on the balance beam and had to settle for the bronze medal.
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Biles – who told her Olympic roommate, “You got this”.
Earlier in the day, Biles told reporters that “any medal is unbelievable”.
Intentional or not, her paramount supremacy – only the uneven bars seem resistant to her mastery – has had a watershed impact on gymnastics, forcing rivals to counter-punch by re-inventing.
Sure, winning a record five gold medals in Rio de Janeiro would have been cool.
In gymnastics, Biles was confident of claiming her fourth Rio win and move into position for an unprecedented fifth on the last day of the competition on Tuesday.
Bolt said that’s why he had a lumbering start when he won his third consecutive gold in the event, defending his title as the world’s fastest man.
In the only final not featuring Biles, her teammate and world champion Madison Kocian hoped to continue the American gold rush as she had earned the highest score in qualifying but she could not beat Mustafina’s 15.900 and settled for silver.
Silver for Laurie and bronze for Simone!
“I went all-out, but also with the thought that I would go for execution rather than just difficulty”.
“In all the years and it’s been many years, one time I could not say Aly try harder because she always tried her best”, Karolyi said.
“But you know what?” she said, “Simone is also a human being, just like all of us”.
Biles – a gold medalist in the team, all-around and vault – fought to stay on the apparatus during her routine, scoring just 14.733 points. “I just went out there with a calm and collected mindset and just ready to compete my routine”, she said.
Wevers unexpectedly found herself in the limelight as she was congratulated in person afterwards by King Willem-Alexander, and took a phone call from Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Team USA has the most medals, with 75 total.
Standing next to Hernandez in the interview area afterward, Biles was asked if she was disappointed and if it fired her up for Tuesday’s floor routine. “I don’t really know what happened”, said Biles.
“I was filled with a lot of emotions and joy because I feel I was able to bring a sense of victory and courage to our leader”, said Ri.
Simone turned out to be a gymnastics gem, the most decorated in her country’s history – 10 times a world champion in team and individual events. One momentary lapse on Monday did nothing to diminish Biles’ extraordinary time in Rio.
In the rings event, Petrounias, the first athlete to carry the Olympic Torch after it was lit at Ancient Olympia in April, blew the rest of the field out of the water with a score of 16.000.
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Also Monday, Ri Se Gwang of North Korea took gold in men’s vault, followed by Denis Abliazin of Russian Federation and Kenzo Shirai of Japan. Arthur Zanetti of Brazil captured silver, delighting the home crowd inside Rio Olympic Arena.
