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PARIS — In the middle of her uneven bar routine, Simone Biles found herself drifting a little too far from the high bar she was desperate to grab. Gymnastics can be the cruellest of sports, where the smallest mistake can lead to the biggest falls, even for the greatest of all time.
She was able to hold on, but it disrupted her transition to the low bar, forcing Biles to pull her legs up and just barely miss the mat.
“I don’t know how I managed it,” she told fellow countryman Sunisa Lee a little later.
Biles’ momentum was disrupted, however, her routine was out of balance. The judges were not kind, giving her a meager 13.733, a full 0.700 below her qualifying score.
Biles found herself in third place behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour in the women’s all-around competition, with only two disciplines (beam and floor) remaining.
In a sport she’s ruled for a decade, Biles suddenly had to be the Comeback GOAT.
And that’s what she became.
Biles went out and delivered a brilliant performance on beam (14.566), including a full-twisting double back dismount. It pushed her back into first place as Andrade faltered slightly and couldn’t keep up with Biles’ superior difficulty (6.400 to 6.100).
With a slim lead — 0.166 — but an extreme advantage in difficulty — 0.900 over Andrade’s — Biles was in a great position but needed an electric execution under extreme pressure. No problem.
Her trademark high tumbling passes sent her to gold, sending a packed, celebrity-filled Bercy Arena crowd wild. It was an epic performance in what may be the final all-around competition of Biles’ storied career.
By defeating Andrade, who won silver, Biles became only the third woman to become a two-time Olympic all-around champion and the first since 1968.
Lee, the all-around champion at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, needed a better time than 13.5 on floor to edge past Italy’s Alice D’Amato and claim bronze. Lee nailed her routine, clocking a time of 13.666 to land on the podium.
This was a real competition, not just a coronation. Andrade needs to be compensated for that. The 25-year-old also won silver at the 2021 Tokyo Games and has a longstanding friendly rivalry with Biles — the two took turns cheering each other on Thursday.
Andrade was a rock, consistent performance after consistent performance, often surpassing her qualifying score, putting herself in the right place to win when Biles stumbled.
Biles simply wouldn’t stumble enough. When gold was on the line, the 27-year-old stepped up to be her best.
In doing so, Biles continued the American streak of dominance in this event during six consecutive Olympic Games: Carly Patterson (2004), Nastia Liukin (2008), Gabby Douglas (2012), Biles (2016), Lee (2021).
She is the first woman to win her second all-around gold in non-consecutive fashion. Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union won in 1956 and 1960. Věra Čáslavská of Czechoslovakia won in 1964 and 1968, when the sport bore little resemblance to the current state of athletics.
Biles returns to action to compete in the individual vault finals on Saturday and beam and floor on Monday. Lee will compete in the beam and bars finals.
