Since Mustafina had fallen on beam but had been excellent on the other three events, while Raisman had been solid on all three events, Mustafina won the tiebreaker and the medal.
Advertisement
“I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps”, Biles said after the event. “Those really stand out from my 50 years of coaching”. As Olympic champion, she’s now part of a proud lineage that traces from Nadia Comaneci to Mary Lou Retton to Gabby Douglas. She is the GOAT.
The 22-year-old American now has five Olympic medals, including two won in the last three days, a winning return for a woman who took a year off after London 2012.
Dynamic on vault. Effortless on beam.
United States’ Simone Biles waves on the podium after receiving her gold medal in the artistic gymnastics women’s individual all-around final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016.
A gymnast who keeps her Rosary in her bag has won the women’s all-around Olympic gold medal for gymnastics. But the Australian siblings, who teamed up to lead their country to gold in the 4×100 freestyle relay, couldn’t hang on.
Three more golds, and her name will start coming up whenever Olympic greats are debated. “But that will not stop me”, Jones tweeted as she finally arrived at the main arena.
Biles trailed Mustafina by 0.034 after the second rotation, during which both were on uneven bars. No other gymnast can do what Biles can, leaving the Spring native with a huge advantage in the difficultly score.
Biles took gold ahead of USA teammate Aly Raisman and Russia’s Aliya Mustafina after finishing off with a dazzling floor routine.
At the halfway point, however, both Biles and Raisman sat a surprising second behind Russia’s Aliya Mustafina.
It has not quite sunk in yet, Biles said. Solid displays on the beam and floor took her to a total of 56.883, just outside the top 10.
Being too young to qualify for the 2012 Olympics, the 4-foot-9 gymnast has completely dominated her sport since her senior debut in 2013.
Karolyi called Biles a “force of nature”.
Children wore Team Simone t-shirts and waved “We Love You Simone” signs, as they sat on the mats at World Championship Centre and watched the competition on a giant projector screen. You can see the golds lining up in her eyes, cant you?
“When I woke up this morning I walked into Ali’s room and said “I have a very good feeling about today” and she said “me to”, Biles revealed. So you never can think I am done. So for the first time, Fiji’s national anthem was played during the Olympics. It was meant as a joke.
“I told her to do it for herself and do it from joy”, Boorman said.
She could win five. “She always has a smile on her face at every practice”, said 7-year-old Dylan Fagin. Biles relishing the victory with her teammates, leaving Rio with that coveted medal and a taste of triumph.
Advertisement
But the winning isn’t over for Biles.
