Sauntering to the sounds of Latin music befitting the beaches and boulevards of Rio de Janeiro, Simone Biles soared to the women’s all-around gymnastics title Thursday night.
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Taking you step by step through Biles’ routines – nearly flawless on the vault, a tad less ideal on the bars, riveting on the beam, jaw-dropping on the floor – should be left to the experts. Basically, the victor is the best gymnast in the entire world.
Breaking: Simone Biles wins the gold medal in the women’s all-around final and teammate Aly Raisman wins the silver medal.
For Raisman, this was a second chance. Judges broke the tie by dropping the lowest score of each gymnast, and in doing so Mustafina was awarded the bronze, leaving Raisman empty-handed. “They are special”, added the 73-year-old, who will retire from coaching after the Rio Games.
Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson were the last to do it at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Douglas, the all-around champ from 2012, but watched from the sidelines Thursday with only the two best gymnasts from each competing country allowed in the all-around final. You can see the entire competition, tonight on NBC. The two start on the vault. She went back in front with a 15.433 on beam – and capped it with a 15.933 on floor. Biles could continue to work out 20 hours a week, attend high school and eventually become a college gymnast or she could explore the elite level, a move that included more intensive training and being home schooled. She didn’t get it, netting a 13.200 score that drops her to 13th.
The Americans’ second straight Olympic team triumph – and third overall – was never in doubt.
Christine Curran, a coach at Exxcel, said even the youngest children could recognize how exciting Raisman’s performance was. Score: 14.966, for the second-best rating of the day on the bars. Biles earned the first one Tuesday while serving as the exclamation point to retiring national team coordinator Martha Karolyi’s going away party. Mustafina of Russian Federation finished third.
Biles came roaring back on balance beam while Mustafina faltered.
In fact, team-mate Raisman went as far to say that Biles is bordering unbeatable. The pressure. Was. On. She shows the grace and strength for which she’s famous, making a series of flips and a one-foot spin look perfectly natural on a 4-inch-wide beam. Her poor performances have put her at risk of missing out on a medal in the Laser Radial class. Her margin of victory was 2.1 points over her teammate and close friend Aly Raisman. Russia’s Aliya Mustafina took bronze with a total of 58.665 points.
She wasn’t the only American named Simone to take gold.
And now, all that was left was the floor exercise. After the third rotation, she barely trailed Mustafina for second place. Her score: 15.433, the best of the day. She was the last to go on floor where all eyes were on her as she did what Simone Biles has always done: fly high and dazzle with her difficulty. She scored a 15.933, which sealed the deal.
Simone Biles can win three more gold medals.
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“I’m feeling like a whirlwind of emotions”. But real talk: Did anyone actually question that? She never wanted to push the talented Biles too hard or too fast because she’s seen too many gymnasts burn out or get hurt. All together now: USA! USA!
