Simone Biles has won her fifth Olympic gold medal after anchoring the United States to a commanding win in the women’s gymnastics team final on Tuesday afternoon at the Bercy Arena.
The five-woman squad of Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera returned the US to the top of the Olympic podium in dominant fashion after posting a combined score of 171.296, more than 5.802 points clear of Italy (165.494), who earned their first artistic gymnastics medal in 96 years. Brazil took bronze (164.497), keeping Great Britain off the podium by a scant 0.234 points.
Three years after the Americans settled for a silver medal as favorites at the Tokyo Olympics when Biles withdrew from the team final after after suffering from “the twisties”, the Americans restored their place atop the sport’s world order with a comprehensive performance across all four disciplines, winning team gold for the third time in the last four Summer Games.
The US team, clad in sequined red, white and blue leotards that shimmered from the back of the jam-packed arena, celebrated in a cluster when the final results flashed on the scoreboard, even if the result had long been beyond doubt.
Biles’ gold marked her 38th career medal between the Olympics and world championships, extending her record as the most decorated gymnast in history.
The 27-year-old from suburban Houston, the oldest American woman to make an Olympic gymnastics team since the 1950s, showed no sign of the calf injury she’d aggravated during Sunday’s qualifying session. The arguable face of the whole Olympics was the star of the show as the Americans claimed their ninth consecutive medal in the team event and the fourth women’s team gold in Olympic history.
The US got off to a flying start on vault, where Chiles (14.000) and Carey (14.800) landed their attempts before Biles stuck a high-scoring Cheng after deciding against performing Yurchenko double pike vault, the hardest vault currently being done in competition by a female gymnast. Even playing it safe, Biles’ score of 14.900 helped the Americans to an early 1.434-point lead over second-placed China.
Next was the uneven bars, Biles’ weakest discipline and the lone event final that she failed to qualify for. But the American star put down one of the better routines of her career for a score of 14.366. Chiles (14.400) did her part with a solid set while Lee, the individual all-around champion at the last Olympics after Biles’ withdrawal, topped them both with a score of 14.566, kicking off chants of “U-S-A!” from the upper mezzanine.
By then Biles and Co had opened a yawning 3.102 point lead over Italy, nearly the same margin between second and sixth place. The rout was on.
The Americans headed to the beam next, where Chiles fell on her front pike before closing strong for a 12.733 score. Lee (14.600) and Biles (14.366) did more than enough to pick up for their teammate as the US managed to further stretch their lead to 3.602 points after three rotations.
As in their previous team golds in London and Rio, the US team’s final event was the floor exercise. Both Lee (13.533) and Chiles (13.966) turned in sassy, joyful routines filled with power tumbling and firm landings kept the momentum going and further electrified the crowd.
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By the time Biles took the floor to close the show, the lead was insurmountable. Yet it was as much a lean-forward moment as these Olympics have seen. Performing to a soundtrack opening with Taylor Swift’s Ready for It?, Biles twice stepped out of bounce but stick both her tumbling passes in a routine packed to the gills with difficult. When it was finished and her score of 14.666 was posted, the crowd erupted in applause.
All five members of the US team beamed from ear to ear as they made it through their mostly flawless routines. That included Rivera, the youngest member of the team, who will also bring home a gold medal despite not being selected for Tuesday’s final.
The US team celebrated their win before an animated, celebrity-flecked crowd that included Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman, Serena Williams, Michael Phelps and Spike Lee. Biles’ husband, Jonathan Owens, an NFL player with the Chicago Bears, also watched Tuesday’s action from the stands after he was granted leave from his team’s training camp.
The Russian team, who pipped the US for the gold in Tokyo, were not entered in Sunday’s final.
At last month’s US Olympic trials, Biles had said: “This is definitely our redemption tour. I feel like we all have more to give.”
On a memorable Tuesday afternoon in the 12th arrondissement, their atonement was complete.