But that dream came crashing down when she slipped on the balance beam during her routine on Monday, leading to a 14.733 score in the competition, leading to a bronze medal showing.
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With Biles surprisingly faltering, Sanne Wevers, who took silver in Glasgow previous year, eventually became the Netherlands’ first ever female gymnastics medallist by claiming gold with a score of 15.466.
Rio’s Day 10 of competition featuring action in boxing, cycling, marathon swimming, wrestling, began with Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland winning the women’s hammer throw gold medal with a world record of 82.29 meters.
Biles can still join Ecaterina Szabo (1984), Vera Caslavska (1968) and Larisa Latynina (1956) as a four-time gold medalist with Tuesday’s floor final.
Competing as in the junior competition at the 2015 national championships, Hernandez won gold in individual all-around and on the uneven bars to glo along with silver on the floor and bronze on the vault and balance beam.
Simone Biles’ bid for her fourth gold medal of Rio’s Summer Olympics will have to wait, after Dutch gymnast Sanne Wevers took advantage of a slightly sub-par Biles performance to claim gold. As NBC’s commentators noted, this speaks for Simone’s skills in itself – that she’d medal after a fall is a big deal. The mistake was reflected in her resulting score of 14.733. In the end, she just missed with a 15.333. “She never stops. She’s constantly trying to learn new things and add difficulty to her routines and flawless that and then add another thing”.
Two gymnasts after Wevers, Hernandez knocked Biles down another spot, turning in a routine scored at 15.333 to move into second place. Yet she hardly looked overcome by the moment as she dazzled on her favorite event while securing a seventh medal for the American women. She’s a three-time world champion on that event.
After Wevers went to No. 1, Biles’ U.S. teammate Laurie Hernandez went after a top score of her own, with a cool and smooth routine that was a definition of controlled energy.
Indeed, expectations coming into Rio were huge for Biles. The score was high enough for both to qualify for the finals, but only two athletes from one country can compete in a single finals event.
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Also Monday, Ri Se Gwang of North Korea took gold in men’s vault, followed by Denis Abliazin of Russian Federation and Kenzo Shirai of Japan.
