Hernandez earned the silver medal with a score of 15.333, while Biles, who fell off the beam at one point during her routine, took the bronze with a score of 14.7333. She averaged 15.966 during her two vaults, well clear of silver medalist Maria Paseka of Russian Federation.
Advertisement
The double world champion on the beam was rock solid as she spun around 900 degrees on her right toes. Biles followed that victory with individual wins in the all-around and the vault. American Haley Anderson won silver in the event four years ago in London.
What the heck’s an Amanar?
Despite her disappointment, Simone accepted the bronze with grace, giving Laurie a hug after her score was announced and saying, “I’m so proud of you”.
But Biles seemed truly bummed that one of her toughest competitors couldn’t qualify for the 2016 games because she was looking forward to seeing her friend more than she was anxious about losing to her in the competition. She then does a two-and-a-half twisting backwards salto (a salto is another way of saying a flip). Don’t try this at home. She refused to be the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps and chose to be the first Simone Biles, instead. The vault tallied a 16.033 and irked (but not really) one of the Olympics commentators.
Meanwhile, the world’s fastest man remains the reigning Olympic champion. While it may not be gold as many expected, she still continues to try and surpass the number medals of any color during a single Olympics with 5. “I think it’s an awesome accomplishment [to make history]”.
Asked if she can tell her three gold medals apart, she flashed the megawatt smile that has graced magazine covers and newspaper front pages and said: “You can tell which is which because on the bottom they are engraved”.
Biles admitted she was “disappointed” with the section of the routine which proved her downfall and that she “didn’t know what happened” when she almost fell off the beam. “So of course I’m disappointed about that, but I can’t be disappointed about the gold”.
– Venus Williams was denied her record fifth tennis gold medal when she and partner Rajeev Ram lost to fellow Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock 10-7 in a tiebreak. I feel like a part of the Olympics, as we brought the Olympics. “It’s something I wanted so badly, so I just tried to keep a good mind going into vault”, she said. Biles won first place by scoring an average of 15.966 and she has managed to stay golden during her time at the Rio Olympics.
The 19-year-old Texan can still win a fourth gold Tuesday in the women’s floor exercise final. Luckily, it’s her strongest skill in the gym. If she pulled it off in competition, it would henceforth be known as “the Hong”. Biles has reportedly called the move “crazy”.
The first women’s event final was vault, one of three events Biles qualified to compete during the first day of competition. She says she knows her routine inside out, and she knows the little adjustments she needs to make if she is slightly off. Hernandez had the highest execution score out of anyone in the qualifying round, which means she had the least amount of deductions taken.
Biles is looking to rebound from her bronze medal performance on the balance beam Monday.
Advertisement
US gymnasts take three more medals away from Rio after the first day of apparatus finals.
