Yet Biles rose to the occasion and, unlike several other champions at the Games, she kept intact her humility and good character.
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Later that evening, Simone Manuel made us all cry once again as she swam to a shock victory in the 100m freestyle, tying with Canadian Penny Oleksiak to bring home the gold.
“Biles owned the vault”.
Simone Biles had been considered, among gymnastic experts, as the greatest gymnast ever-though she hadn’t even competed in an Olympic event.
Aly Raisman will be bidding to put her heartbreak from the London Games behind her as she bids to spoil U.S. teammate Simone Biles’ race for a record haul of five golds in Rio in the Olympic women’s all-around title.
Let’s not shoot our whole load here, guys. Team USA holds the chance to win 10 gold medals in every finals event, including vault, beams, bar, and floor exercises. Raisman came in second with a solid 15.766.
She scored 15.900 on the vault called an “Amanar” after Simona Amanar of Romania, who preceded her as Olympic all-around champion in 2000.
“Coming into this race tonight, I tried to take the weight of the black community off my shoulders, which is something I carry with me, just being in this position”, she said.
Japan’s 400 IM champion Kosuke Hagino won silver and Wang Shun of China took bronze, both moving dramatically through the field on the final length after turning in fifth and seventh place.
Uzbekistan’s Oksana Chusovitina, competing in her 7th Olympics at 41 years old, attempted the tricky Produnova vault in hopes of making the podium. She also becomes the first American woman to win gold on the vault. Biles relishing the victory with her teammates, leaving Rio with that coveted medal and a taste of triumph.
Fellow gymnast and silver-medallist Alexander spoke in praise of her fellow teammate, saying: “No-one goes into this thinking they can beat Simone”.
Simone Biles and Aly Raisman.
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Michael Phelps became the first swimmer, male or female, to win the same event in four straight Olympics when he cruised to gold in the 200-meter individual medley.
