Simone Biles accomplished what has been long predicted, winning the Olympic all-around competition here at Rio Olympic Arena on Thursday.
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Biles, competing at her first Olympic Games, made a mockery of those who doubted her ability to cope with the occasion and added pressure of being the outstanding favorite.
Next was the uneven bars, Biles’ worst discipline, which is to say the lone event final she did not qualify for – and the 4ft 8in phenom followed Raisman’s rotation-opening score of 14.166 with a solid mark of 14.966.
Then she ended her best tally on the floor with a massive 15.933 to earn her the gold medal, her team-mate Raisman with a consistent and clean routine to move up from fourth to third, then patiently waited to snatch the silver away from Mustafina. Russia’s Aliya Mustafina took bronze with a total of 58.665 points. Her coach said he believes Van Acker contracted a severe intestinal infection while training in Rio in July that sapped her energy. “I go into it knowing that I hope that she wins just because she wins every single competition”.
Simone Biles roundly dominated the women’s gymnastics all-around to rack up her second gold medal of Rio 2016.
Fellow American Simone Biles won gold – just the second time in history Team USA had taken the top two gymnastic slots in the individual events.
“The 1.45-meter (4’9”) devout Christian Texan who regularly attends church, is competing in her first Olympics and had already helped the USA women to a second straight team gold.
The 19-year-old American soared to the all-around title on Thursday, putting the gap between herself and the rest of the world on full display under the Olympic spotlight.
Biles could still win three more gold medals before the Games with the teenager set to challenge in the beam, vault and floor. I think not-Biles is truly magnificent, and she’ll now go down in history as the fourth consecutive US gymnast to take home the all-around gold.
But the Russian scored low to allow Raisman, the Olympic floor champion, to pull ahead with a flawless floor routine to snatch silver which was only bettered by Biles’s Samba performance.
The margin between Simone and Alexandra’s score was an incredible 2.1 points, breaking Olympic records from the last half-century. Both Raisman and Mustafina were back at the all-around event in Rio, looking for glory.
She dominated Thursday’s competition from the start, by scoring 15.866 points on the vault with a so-called amanar – one of the most hard routines. Raisman wept after her routine was completed, knowing she would get the silver medal, after losing the bronze on a tiebreaker four years ago.
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The Americans are and have been the best in the world for quite some time. I’m sure most people don’t go into it thinking they can beat Usain Bolt, so it’s kind of the same thing.
