Thursday’s theme in Rio was the head-to-head competition among some of America’s biggest stars in marquee events. Perhaps by beginning the conversation with talk about the best in history. A three-time Olympic medalist in London, Raisman appeared to be on the outside of the picture looking in after a shaky performance at the world championships that left her “devastated”.
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One last test awaited in Brazil, a contest not so much between Biles and the rest of the field but between herself and the burden of oversized expectations. For me, the first Olympic champion and the last Olympic champion, they are together.
“Someone could say I’m the best but then there is a whole different side of people saying I am not”. “I wasn’t upset. I was just relieved that bars were over, because I’ve been struggling with that”.
The expectations on Biles were nearly like the ones faced by Bolt or swimmer Michael Phelps before the Olympics in 2008.
Simon Biles is the full name, but in reaching the top of the gymnastics mountain by winning the Olympic all-around women’s title, the last name was rendered unnecessary Thursday. Though she qualified sixth into the all-around with a fall on beam, Mustafina led her team to an unexpected silver medal on Tuesday, putting up four solid routines to prove just how good she is when she’s on.
Some of her fellow competitors believe that’s exactly where the 4-foot-8 dynamo is heading.
Her score of 15.933 confirmed she had beaten team-mate Aly Raisman by 2.100 points after a demonstration of jaw-dropping skills across four apparatus.
“No one goes into this thinking they can beat Simone”, Raisman said.
Even Raisman acknowledged she was fighting for second place – or first in the “non-Simone division”, as her fellow Americans have taken to describing it.
“I don’t know who but it’s not me”, she said. She won the first of four straight US all-around titles three weeks later and began her march toward winning every major worldwide all-around title in this Olympic cycle.
Back in 2012 when Aly Raisman, then 18, faced down the balance beam in the women’s all-around final, she almost fell from the apparatus after a front somersault went awry.
It gets a little trickier after that, if only because of unfortunate timing.
For Raisman silver felt like gold against a rival who has reigned since 2013 with 14 world medals – ten in gold.
But rather than being crushed by the hype, Biles is such a free spirit that she simply soared higher and higher on Thursday with a dazzling floor performance that will live long in the memory of those lucky enough to be in the Rio Olympic Arena.
If she leaves it for others to decide, Biles wins in a landslide.
Biles could tumble and vault, but she couldn’t swing uneven bars to save her life. “Those are the culminations of our career”.
Biles was asked how she wants to spend her post-Olympic break.
For Raisman, claiming silver with a total of 60.098 meant redemption after she suffered a gut-wrenching disappointment to miss out on the bronze four years ago to Russia’s Aliya Mustafina on the tiebreak rule. “I feel like I did my job tonight”, said the 19-year-old. “It was just kind of a train wreck”.
Biles began gymnastics at age 6 (a late start) and has been coached by Aimee Boorman since age 7.
She was ready for the Olympic moment everyone had been expecting from her for three years.
“It’s very satisfying”, she said. At one point Boorman pulled Biles aside and gave her a choice. “I just stay out of it”. She’s pure muscle. But in gymnastics you don’t just have to be strong, fast and flexible.
“She flies higher than anyone, has bigger difficulty value than we have ever seen”.
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However, Fiji’s national sport, rugby, returned to the games this year after a 92-year absence, and the island nation made the most of it.
