After being beat out for a medal in a tiebreaker in London, Aly Raisman nails her floor routine to leapfrog Russia’s Aliya Mustafina for the silver medal and takes a second to soak it all in.
Advertisement
Biles could still win three more gold medals before the Games with the teenager set to challenge in the beam, vault and floor.
It’s only the second time that two United States gymnasts have finished 1-2 in an Olympic all-around.
Biles was not considered one of the great American prospects.
She did all this with a clear head because when she is in orbit, it’s the way to go.
Biles could tumble and vault, but she couldn’t swing uneven bars to save her life. “She’s going to continue to do well at these Olympics”, Canadian gymnast Elsabeth Black predicted. Heading back to her family’s home in Spring, Texas, with anything less than a fistful of golds would have been a disappointment.
The gold medal was decided before the competition started. Which she nearly never does and rarely is.
“Well, obviously, yes!” she said with emphasis, as if to say, “Duh!”
She was the favourite to win gold and didn’t disappoint with her routine showing off her power and agility.
“She’s incredible. She is just unbelievable, an extraordinary athlete and person”.
“Every emotion hit me at once so I was just kind of a train wreck”, Biles told reporters. To me, I’m just the same Simone. So was Raisman. Both gymnasts said that when they gathered for the first time as a team in their South Bay hotel after being selected as Olympians, they bought into a plan formulated by their coaches.
Karolyi called Biles a “force of nature”. “I saw my coach in the stands but it’s just insane I don’t have words”, said Raisman. But first she had to make it to the all-around final by qualifying for one of the two American spots.
Following their wins, Aly said, “It was very emotional because we finally did it”. Although Biles insisted she has never looked ahead during her long run at the top, that’s not exactly true.
Barely a month ago at SAP Center in San Jose, the US gymnastics trials unfolded and Biles was clearly the most elite performer, a wonder to watch. I just have two Olympic gold medals now.
Biles, of course, is always expected to perform the best.
Biles, already an OIympic champion after leading the “Final Five” to gold in the team event, was briefly challenged by European champion Mustafina.
Raisman hugged Biles gently as they awaited the final score – a mere formality – and tears appeared around Biles’ glittery red, white and blue eyeliner when the vision she once wrote in a scrapbook became a reality.
Advertisement
When the last notes of her music finished, she gave one more big smile and then, looking at Boorman, began to cry. “So we’ll start with that”.
