Simone Biles spent Sunday morning in the warm-up gym thinking not of history but perfection.
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They again made her fun of her hair as they did in 2012 – the type of thing that comes with racial implications and stings so much more when you’re a minority in a mostly white sport. The margin between first and second was greater than second and eighth, a symbol of the canyon Biles created between herself and her peers.
Biles added a third gold medal to her rapidly rising haul on Sunday, easily capturing the women’s vault final.
“Oh, yes, I did”, Biles said, finally beginning to grasp what she’s accomplished at the Rio Games.
“I just wanted to stick a vault so badly here and it didn’t happen”, Biles said, “so of course I’m disappointed about that – but I can’t be disappointed about the gold”.
Good idea considering there may be more on the way.
Biles will have a chance to win two more individual medals – in the balance beam Monday and the floor exercise Tuesday.
Her medal was one of three won by American gymnasts Sunday.
Not that Biles is getting ahead of herself.
Instead, the gold medal went to Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands, and silver to Biles’ teammate Laurie Hernandez.
“We were very confident once we went out there”, Biles said of her team’s win. “She never won her gold at worlds but now she’s got her Olympic gold”.
Mark Cavendish is also trying for a medal in the men’s omnium – his first Olympics medal, and Nick Thompson hopes to bring home a medal in the sailing laser event.
“Yeah, it’ll be a little weird to watch”, Douglas allowed with a smile Tuesday, “but I’ll be cheering my heart out for Simone and Aly to win”. “It was just an incredible feeling”. Whitlock’s score of 15.633 was just enough to edge Hypolito, who finished with a 15.533. The difference came down to difficulty. The gold also gives Biles 17 world championship or Olympic medals, the most ever by an American woman.
Douglas, who finished third in qualifying, had only missed the finals because of a rule forbidding one country from sending three gymnasts to the all-around final (Raisman finished second).
Going last among the eight female finalists, Biles drilled her Amanar – a round off onto the block followed by 2 ½ twists – and put up a 15.9 to take the lead.
The medal collection for the USA gymnastics team continued to accumulate Sunday. The 41-year-old plans to keep training through Tokyo 2020 following a seventh-place finish on vault. Nevertheless, she was showered with love as a tribute video of her career played on the jumbo screen. Number three. She’s making it look to easy right now. You could see a whiff of disappointment on her face despite the score of 15.9, which was well more than any of her predecessors had scored.
Naddour’s performance ended a 32-year medal drought on the pommel horse for the United States. It served as a bit of redemption for Naddour.
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As the only gymnast competing in all four events for the powerhouse U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team officially nicknamed the “Final Five”, the 19-year-old Biles has displayed the utmost confidence, dynamism and skill. He washed his uniform in baby detergent so he would be reminded of his infant daughter Lilah.
