PARIS — Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team put on quite a show for all the celebrities during Olympic qualifying at the Bercy Arena on Sunday. Even with a hobbled Biles, who appeared to tweak her left ankle during floor warmups.
The Americans, heavy favorites for gold with Russia not here, finished with 172.296 points, more than five points ahead of Italy. There are still seven teams left to compete, but nobody is coming close to that. The U.S. women had five scores of 14.5 or higher, including Biles’ 15.8 on vault, and counted only one score lower than a 13.6. The team finals are Tuesday night.
Biles and Suni Lee, the reigning Olympic champion, are 1-2 in the all-around standings. Jordan Chiles is third, by a mere 0.067 points, but she’ll miss the all-around finals because of the two-per-country rule.
Biles opened with a spectacular balance beam routine, but gave everyone a scare a few minutes later, appearing to tweak her left ankle during warmups on floor exercise. She briefly left the floor with Dr. Marcia Faustin, the U.S. team doctor, and got her ankle heavily taped when she returned.
But if Biles was hurting, it didn’t affect her gymnastics. She delivered the highest-scoring routine on floor exercise, did her signature Yurchenko double pike, a vault so difficult few men even do it, and finished with only a slight mistake on uneven bars, where she wobbled briefly on a handstand. When she finished bars, she went over to salute a crowd of U.S. fans, smiling and waving.
“Yeah,” Biles quipped after her score, a 14.433, posted. “That’s good.”
Then she flashed a big grin.
A who’s who of A-list celebs – Tom Cruise, Anna Wintour and Lady Gaga, just to name a few – were on hand to watch Biles, reigning Olympic champion Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera. Even the Americans were impressed, their mouths dropping open when the celebrities were shown on the Jumbotron.
When Cruise was shown, she smiled at Chiles and they went back-to-back in a Charlies Angels-esque pose.
The crowd went quiet as Simone Biles competed on bars, but roared when she stuck the landing, even on a tweaked ankle. She gave a huge wave to the crowd as she stepped off the podium. She scored a 14.433.
What Simone Biles does is astounding on its own. Doing it on a bum ankle? That’s next level. Biles did a monster Yurchenko double pike, the most difficult vault being done by any woman and nailed it. Yes, she took a big step back with her left foot to steady herself on the landing, but that’s a minor flaw. She scored a 15.8, including a 9.4 for execution.
She then followed it with the second-hardest vault, a Cheng, taking another hop back on the landing. But Biles was visibly limping as she walked off the podium, and hopped down the steps using only her right foot.
Simone Biles isn’t backing off, despite an apparent ankle injury. Biles left the floor briefly with Dr. Marcia Faustin, the U.S. gymnastics team doctor, after tweaking her left ankle during warmups on floor exercise. She returned several minutes later and took a seat on the sidelines. Another member of the medical team came and wrapped the ankle tightly. Biles got up and walked around, as if testing it.
When she finally took the floor, her face was grim. Still, Biles opened with the triple-twisting, double somersault, better known as the Biles II. It’s both incredibly difficult and demands a lot of every part of her leg. She took a few steps out of bounds on the landing, but that is not unusual. She did the same at meets earlier this summer. The only noticeable difference in her routine was that she took out a stag leap at the end of the Biles I.
Still, Biles looked somber as she finished the routine, for which she earned a score of 14.600. She walked gingerly off the mat and took a seat on the steps at the edge of the podium. Cecile Landi, one of her coaches, came and asked her if she was OK, and Biles nodded. She continued to sit there until Laurent Landi, Cecile Landi’s husband and Biles’ other coach, came to her. He put his arm around her and she nodded as she whispered in her ear.
Finally, Biles got up and joined her teammates.
Biles spotted her parents when the Americans moved to vault, their next event, and she could be seen smiling and laughing again. After landing one practice vault, she motioned to teammates and then jokingly crawled partway toward the runway. Then she got up and hopped on her right leg. “I’m going to need a wheelchair,” she said, according to the Peacock broadcast, though she appeared to be making light of the apparent ankle injury.
Jordan Chiles scored a 13.866 on floor after Suni Lee put up a 13.100.
A gymnastics routine gets two scores: One for difficulty, also known as the D score or start value, and one for execution. Every gymnastics skill has a numerical value, and the D score is the sum total of the skills in a routine. The execution score, or E score, reflects how well the skills were done. A gymnast starts with a 10.0, and deductions for flaws and form errors are taken from there. Add the D and E scores together, and that’s your total for an apparatus. (Vault scores will always be higher because it’s a single skill.)
As they rotated to floor, Simone Biles and company spotted Snoop Dogg dancing in the front row. Then Biles and Jordan Chiles started dancing. Needless to say, the Olympics are way more fun with fans.
Simone Biles absolutely crushed her routine on balance beam, the U.S. women’s first event. Whether it was her aerial series or individual flips, she did them with more ease and grace than most people walk on flat ground. And she was far from the ground, mind you, 4 feet off on a balance beam that is a mere 4 inches wide.
When she landed her dismount, taking a small hop back, a wide grin crossed Biles’ face and coach Cecile Landi jumped up in the air. She scored a 14.733 and few, if any, other gymnasts will be able to match that the rest of the day.
And with that, she and the Americans are off and running.
There’s always some nerves before the first event, especially when it’s balance beam. Biles was the last of the Americans to go on beam, and she looked somewhat nervous as she watched them compete. As she waited for Suni Lee’s score to post, Biles stood at the edge of the beam, blowing out her breath and saying a few last words to herself. But once she was on the beam, she was her usual spectacular self.
Suni Lee went third on balance beam for the U.S., ditching the mount that’s been giving her trouble and going to the straddle. Lee scored a 14.033.
Jordan Chiles and Hezly Rivera opened on balance beam for the U.S., Chiles scoring a 13.600 and 16-year-old Rivera putting up a 12.633. Chiles had a big wobble on the mount but steadied herself with a couple of windmills.
Biles is competing right now. She began the subdivision 2 session at 5:40 a.m. ET (NBC, Peacock) to qualify for the all-around final, which is Thursday, Aug. 1. The U.S. women’s gymnastics team is qualifying to make the team final, which is Tuesday, July 30. Here is Simone Biles’ Olympics competition schedule.
Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles are joining Simone Biles in doing the all-around. That means Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera, at 16 the only member of the team who isn’t a returning Olympian, are each doing two events: Carey on vault and floor exercise, where she’s the reigning Olympic champion, and Rivera on uneven bars and balance beam.
- Balance beam: Chiles, Rivera, Lee, Biles.
- Floor exercise: Lee, Chiles, Carey, Biles.
- Vault: Lee, Chiles, Carey, Biles.
- Uneven bars: Rivera, Chiles, Biles, Lee.
Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team are in subdivision 2.
For qualifying, the Americans are wearing their “Star Spangled Shine” leotards for qualifying. They’re a blueish-grey color with stars on the chest and sparkles. Lots and lots and lots of sparkles.
Simone Biles is the most-decorated gymnast of all time, with 37 medals at the world championships and Olympics. To put that in perspective, that’s more than any men’s team has. Combined. China’s initial five-man team had 37 medals, but they made a switch before qualifying and now only have 34. Oh, the men do two more events than the women do, too. Which means Biles has amassed her collection despite having fewer opportunities to do so.
Here is when Simone Biles competes at the Paris Olympics.
- Qualifying starts at 3:30 a.m. ET Sunday, July 28.
- The women’s team final begins at 12:15 p.m. ET Tuesday, July 30.
- The women’s all-around final is at 12:15 p.m. ET Thursday, Aug. 1.
- The women’s vault final is at 10:20 a.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 3.
- The women’s uneven bars final is at 9:40 a.m. ET Sunday, Aug. 4.
- The women’s balance beam final (6:36 a.m. ET) and floor exercise final (8:20 a.m.) are Monday, Aug. 5.
Two falls on their final event might cost Romania a spot in the team finals. In qualifying, countries are allowed to drop the lowest of their four scores on each event. But because both Lilia Cosman and Andreea Preda fell, Romania had to count Cosman’s 11.333. After leading Britain for the entire subdivision, that dropped them 1.333 behind. Britain finished with 160.83 points, Romania 159.497. With only eight teams making Tuesday’s final, and 10 teams still to compete, the Romanians will be holding their breaths for the rest of the day.
- Great Britain: 160.830. Vault: 41.966; Uneven bars: 39.399; Balance beam: 40.333; Floor exercise: 39.132.
- Romania: 159.497. Vault: 40.966; Uneven bars: 36.999; Balance beam: 40.799; Floor exercise: 40.733.
There are plenty of high-profile fans at Bercy Arena this morning, presumably to see Simone Biles. Oscar-winning actress Jessica Chastain is seated with her family in a section on the northern side of the arena, near the vault, a few rows up from USA snowboarder Shaun White and his girlfriend, Nina Dobrev. Businessman David Lauren, the son of eponymous clothing designer Ralph Lauren, is also seated nearby. Also in attendance are Anna Wintour, Tom Cruise, Greta Gerwig and Ariana Grande.
Today’s team qualifying is drawing such high interest because it will be the first time that Biles competes at the Paris Olympics, where she is expected to add to her gold medal haul. She and the rest of Team USA will start on balance beam shortly after 11:40 a.m. local time (or 5:40 a.m. ET).
How does Olympic gymnastics qualifying work?
Every gymnast, whether they’re competing as part of a team or as an individual, has to go through qualifying. How many events they do depends both on whether they’re trying to make the all-around final and, if their country is one of the 12 in the team competition, where they’re needed most.
Four gymnasts compete on each event in qualifying, and teams can drop their lowest score. The top eight teams after qualifying advance to Tuesday’s team final, where scores start over, and the U.S. women are the heavy favorites to win gold.
The top 24 in the individual all-around make Thursday’s final, where Biles is expected to become only the third woman, and first since 1968, to win a second Olympic title. The top eight gymnasts on each event advance to the event finals, which are Aug. 3-5.
But there is a limit of two gymnasts per country in the all-around and each event final, meaning there is likely to be at least one American who will get sidelined.
The U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team is set, meet the team
Simone Biles is back along with some returning faces as the team looks to build on their Tokyo team silver medal at the Paris Games.
The U.S. women start on balance beam and finish on uneven bars. Biles will anchor every event but uneven bars, where it will be Lee. Bars is Lee’s signature event, and she won a bronze medal on it at the Tokyo Olympics in addition to her all-around gold. Biles will go second-to-last on bars. Biles, Carey and Chiles are each planning to do two vaults, meaning they are trying to qualify for the vault final.
Rotation 1
- Vault: Georgia-Mae Fenton (13.833), Abigail Martin (13.766), Alice Kinsella (13.933, Ruby Evans (14.200). All four competing for Great Britain.
- Uneven bars: South Africa’s Caitlin Rooskrantz (13.733), Switzerland’s Lena Bickel (12.266), Ukraine’s Anna Lashchevska (13.033), Bulgaria’s Valentina Georgieva (11.500).
- Balance Beam: Lilia Cosman (12.833), Amalia Ghigoarta (13.266), Ana Barbosu (13.533), Sabrina Maneca-Voinea (14.000). All four competing for Romania.
- Floor exercise: Ahtziri Sandoval (11.833), Natalia Escalera (DNS), Alexa Moreno (12.800). All three competing for Mexico.
Rotation 2
- Vault: Alexa Moreno (13.949, two vaults), Ahtziri Sandoval (12.550, two vaults), Natalia Escalera (DNS). All three competing competing for Mexico.
- Uneven bars: Rebecca Downie (14.666), Georgia-Mae Fenton (12.8333), Alice Kinsella (11.900), Ruby Evans (11.200). All four competing for Great Britain.
- Balance Beam: South Switzerland’s Lena Bickel (13.066), Ukraine’s Anna Lashchevska (11.866), Africa’s Caitlin Rooskrantz (11.333), Bulgaria’s Valentina Georgieva (10.633).
- Floor exercise: Sabrina Maneca-Voinea (13.800), Ana Barbosu (13.600), Amalia Ghigoarta (13.333), Lilia Cosman (12.466). All four competing for Romania.
Rotation 3
- Vault: Sabrina Maneca-Voinea (13.666), Ana Barbosu (13.633, two vaults), Lilia Cosman (13.500), Amalia Ghigoarta (13.000). All four competing for Romania.
- Uneven bars: Mexico’s Natalia Escalera (12.800), Alexa Moreno (12.633), Ahtziri Sandoval (12.266) and Indonesia’s Rifda Irfanaluthfi (9.166).
- Balance beam: Georgia-Mae Fenton (13.500), Alice Kinsella (13.433), Rebecca Downie (13.400), Ruby Evans (12.600). All four competing for Great Britain.
- Floor exercise: Ukraine’s Anna Lashchevska (12.566), Switzerland’s Lena Bickel (12.433), South Africa’s Caitlin Rooskrantz (10.866).
Rotation 4
- Vault: South Africa’s Caitlin Rooskrantz (still to come), Switzerland’s Lena Bickel (13.366), Ukraine’s Anna Lashchevska (12.833), Bulgaria’s Valentina Georgieva (13.999, two vaults).
- Uneven bars: Andreea Preda (10.933), Amalia Ghigoarta (13.066), Lilia Cosman (11.333), Ana Barbosu (still to come). All four competing for Romania.
- Balance beam: Ahtziri Sandoval (11.733), Natalia Escalera (DNS), Alexa Moreno (11.200). All three competing for Mexico.
- Floor exercise: Georgia-Mae Fenton (12.466), Ruby Evans (13.133), Abigail Martin (13.266), Alice Kinsella (12.733). All four competing for Great Britain.
Simone Biles saves her coaches time. And headaches. When the greatest gymnast the sport has ever seen is grinding away every day, it makes it a little hard for anyone else to slack off. When one of the world’s most famous athletes is at the gym before most people have had their coffee or brushed their teeth, the other gymnasts better be up and at ‘em early, too.
And if Biles can pick herself up after the entire world has had a front-row seat to her lowest moment, bouncing back from a bad meet seems a little more doable.
“Training with Simone is, like, once in a lifetime,” said Joscelyn Roberson, who moved to WCC after the US championships in 2022. “She’s always so bubbly in the gym. Plus, she can hit. All the time. Like, she never has a bad day, which is insane to me.” Read about where Simone Biles trains and what it’s like to train with her.
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