As the first African-American woman to win gold in an individual Olympic swimming event, Simone Manuel knew the colour of her skin would generate more interest than the colour of the medal she had just won. Manuel shared her gold with Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak, as they both touched the wall at the exact same moment.
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Biles was once again at her unparalleled best at the Rio Summer Games on Thursday with a winning score of 62.198 that left her a gaping two points clear of fellow American Aly Raisman, and almost four points ahead of bronze medalist Aliya Mustafina of Russian Federation. You never know that feeling until it hits you.
“It means the world to me”.
I think I was more proud of Aly getting silver than me gold.
And quite honestly, we think the hugs they give each other before, after and during the competitions is a little bit of fuel that keeps them going!
While Biles became the first woman in 20 years to win back-to-back world and Olympic all around titles, Comaneci also felt the gap between the American and the rest of the world needs to narrow as otherwise boredom could drive her away from the sport.
Biles and Raisman completed a one-two finish for the second time for the U.S. after Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson won gold and silver respectively in 2008.
(From L) Alexandra Raisman and Simone Biles of the U.S. and Russia’s Aliya Mustafina celebrate on the podium of the individual all around final of the artistic gymnastics at the Olympic Arena in Rio de Janeiro Thursday.
She launched her challenge by nailing a hard Amanar vault scoring 15.866 despite a wobbly landing, to lead Raisman by 0.233.
Biles surged on front again with 15.433 on the beam as Mustafina dropped back after dropping back after errors. She and her Rio teammates – Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian – nicknamed themselves “The Final Five”.
“I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps, I’m the first Simone Biles”.
Tearful teammates then clutched each other as they waited for the scores – Biles scoring highest (15.933) after also topping the vault and the beam.
But at the 2015 world championships, she finished a disappointing fifth. We are like sisters. Her margin of victory was almost double the largest she’s had in winning the major worldwide all-around competition each year. “Simone is competing for the USA, and we’re not taking any credit away from that”.
“It is something I’ve definitely struggled with a lot”, Manuel said. “She has very good (start values), her jumps are very good, and she is always stable”.
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Simone Biles was already considered by most to be the best gymnast in the world.
