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Brilliant Simone Biles matches the great Nadia Comaneci as she lands ninth Olympic medal
That is what redemption looks like. After pulling out of competition in Tokyo, when she was brought low by a complex condition she described as the “twisties”, a physical terror of undertaking the very thing at the heart of her sport, Simone Biles was back to doing what she is best known for: hoovering up the bullion. After picking up the team all-round gold earlier in the week, she added another title with the individual award. Watching on was Nadia Comaneci – until Biles moved into action, the holder of the record for most Olympic gymnastics medals. Now Biles has matched her: both the greats have nine each.
If not quite the perfect 10, this was still a performance by Biles breathtaking in its athleticism. Three years ago she lost all confidence at the very idea of doing a tumbling pass ever again. Yet here she was, spinning, flipping and twisting with absolute certainty. Her final floor routine was a demonstration in total unlikelihood. During that exercise, with everyone watching, her grin firmly in place, she was simply astonishing, performing a triple twisted double back as if the action of doing such a preposterous manoeuvre was as simple as getting up from the sofa. Even Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, her nearest competitor, could only watch on with a huge smile. She knew glory when she saw it.
“I don’t believe it” you could see Biles saying as she stood at the side of the floor after completing what must rank as the finest piece of gymnastic choreography ever seen at the Olympic Games. And she was not the only one.
In truth, this was less a competitive sporting event, more a coronation. As the leading qualifier, Biles was gifted the opportunity to go last on to the floor, after everyone else had finished their evening’s work. And her rivals must have been delighted that they, like the crowd packed into every corner of Arena Bercy, had the chance to watch improbability in action.
Not that Biles was at her best all evening. There was one moment where she revealed she is, after all, human. The competition consisted of gymnasts having one turn each on four pieces of equipment: the vault, the balance beam, the uneven bars and the floor mat. And Biles, by her own ridiculously high standards, made a bit of a mess of the uneven bars, slipping as she moved from one bar to the other, momentarily losing the momentum of her spins. These things are relative, of course. Her score of 13.7 in that discipline may have induced a sharp intake of breath around the arena, but most of the 24 women competing here would not be unhappy with that sort of return. Biles, though, clearly was. Her trademark grin disappeared into a locked-jaw scowl as she watched her name slip to third place on the leaderboard at the halfway point.
Fortunately for her, fortunately for a crowd that had come to watch her deliver, there was better to come. Much, much better. On the balance beam she was majestic, doing things only three years ago she reckoned compromised her safety, flipping and somersaulting and spinning. For all Andrade’s silver medal-earning brilliance, for all the sparkling efforts of Tokyo champion Sunisa Lee who came in third, Biles put herself back at the top of the table.
And then came the stunning denouement. Given she had qualified with a score on the floor almost a point higher than anyone else, she knew she was now on course for a return to the heights. But nobody could have envisaged quite what awaited. Her routine was thrilling. It was majestic. It was historic.
Biles wins sixth Olympic gold: as it happened
07:49 PM BST
And the acclamation begins
GOLD FOR THE GOAT 🥇🐐@Simone_Biles is a 2x Olympic all-around champion!#ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/Iqh0NN61tu
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 1, 2024
Simone Liberty Biles 🗽🥇 #Paris2024
🎨 @muvergraphics pic.twitter.com/Iri5y4lrYd— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) August 1, 2024
07:43 PM BST
Biles and Lee roll back the years
Simone Biles, Olympic team champion in 2016 and 2024, all around individual champion in 2016, vault and floor champion in Rio, adds the all-around individual title, the blue riband, in 2024 to her remarkable record.
Sunisa Lee, individual all-around gold in 2020, team gold in 2024, team silver in 2020, bars bronze in Tokyo, adds the bronze in Paris to her collection.
07:32 PM BST
Individual all-around result
Simone Biles (USA) 59.131
Rebeca Andrade (Brazil) 57.932
Sunisa Lee (USA) 56.465
Team GB’s Alice Kinsella was 12th with 53.799 and Georgia-Mae Fenton 18th on 51.766
07:30 PM BST
Biles wins her sixth Olympic gold
And regains the individual all-around title after eight years.
Extraordinary sequence of double twisted, double back, double straight and double pike tumbles. Amazingly stable landings. She needed 13.868 and scored 15.066
Don’t call this a comeback, she’s been here for years. She’s gonna knock you out etc
07:26 PM BST
Andrade brings the joy
Huge double straight tumble from Andrade caps a fine routine with a double pike back tumble to finish. She left nothing out there and must have done enough to capture second place at least.
Yes – she scores 14.033. So she takes the lead with Biles to come. Biles needs 13.868 to win.
07:20 PM BST
Sunisa Lee takes the lead
The reigning Olympic champion scored 13.666 on the floor to take the lead with Andrade and Biles to go.
07:18 PM BST
Excellent floor routine from Sunisa Lee
Spotted her landings and should have enough to overtake D’Amato.
07:16 PM BST
Neymour scores 13.1
Which means she cannot overtake Alice D’Amato. Here comes Sunisa Lee, the 2020 Olympic champion, who needs 13.4 to take the lead with Andrade and Biles to come.
07:12 PM BST
D’Amato clings on to third
The two Italians have completed their floor routines and both have been deducted marks. Alice D’Amato for stepping outside and Manila Esposito for falling as she failed to spot after a tumble across the long diagonal.
D’Aamato, in bronze medal position, scored 13.500, Esposito 12.7333.
On the beam, Team GB’s Alice Kinsella scored 13.033.
07:00 PM BST
Darling of the crowd
Watching on, Biles could only nod knowingly as Andrade finished her beam performance with a flourish. But the Brazilian’s score of 14.33 means that the American has retaken the lead ahead of her favourite discipline, the floor exercise. when it becomes clear on the big screen that she is back in gold medal position, the arena erupts.
Brit watch: with three quarters of the competition over, Alice Kinsella is in eighth place, Georgie-Mae Fenton in 10th.
06:57 PM BST
On to the floor
Biles was .700 better in qualification than Andrade and with her high level of difficulty, should she nail it then there will be the coronation for which the crowd yearns.
06:56 PM BST
Biles regains the lead
Andrade was awarded the score of 14.133.
After three rotations:
Biles (USA) 44.065
Andrade (Brazil) 43.899
D’Amato (Italy) 42.833
Nemour (Algeria) 42.799
Lee (USA) 42.799
Alice Kinsella (GB) is eighth and Georgia-Mae Fenton 10th.
06:49 PM BST
Andrade draws Biles’ applause
After her very good beam routine.
Nemour’s inquiry has been rewarded with a remarking and an uplift of .2 to 13.233.
06:46 PM BST
Nemour has put in an inquiry over difficulty score
06:42 PM BST
Nemour’s save of the day
Kaylia Nemour fights hard to stay on the beam, styling out her slip after a couple of lay-outs,hanging on with one big toe. Terrific spins too but it will cost her as will missing the splits. The two Italians went before her, Alice D’Amato scoring 14.033 and Manila Esposito 14.2.
Nemour, the 17-year-old, scores 13.033.
On the bars, Britain’s Alice Kinsella has just been marked 14.133 after a remarkable performance.
06:32 PM BST
The grin is back
The grin is back. Biles takes 14.56 on the balance beam, slightly less than she got in qualifying, though more than anyone else has yet managed on the apparatus. We will soon see if it has undermined those above her on the scoreboard and put her back in contention. But she looks a lot happier.
06:30 PM BST
Biles shows she can handle the pressure
She scores 14.566 on the beam and as Matt Baker says, she is so far ahead of the field on the floor that she may well have done enough to compensate for the bars.
06:28 PM BST
Biles is first up on beam
And the chance to lay down a marker. A slight wobble after the free cartwheel is mitigated by a spectacular dismount for Biles. Full twisting double back somersault to finish. She’s delighted. The smile is back.
06:22 PM BST
After two rotations
Team GB’s Georgia Mae-Fenton is in 13th and Alice Kinsella two places back at 15th.
06:19 PM BST
But me no butts
After slipping to third halfway through the competition, Biles is looking decidedly tight jawed. Up in the stands watching on is Zinedine Zidane, a man who knows all about messing up at the highest level. Though in truth it seems unlikely Biles will express her frustration by head-butting Andrade.
06:15 PM BST
Sunisa Lee scores 14.866
On bars which means Biles was fifth of six in the group. On to the beam. Biles is pacing.
As Craig Heap says, it’s a good job she went for such a difficult vault and pulled it off. Had she played it safe she might be miles behind now.
06:11 PM BST
Biles drops to third
Alice D’Amato captures third place overall temporarily after scoring 14.800 on the bars but a slip from her fellow Italian Manila Esposito when she couldn’t hang on after a tkachev and hit the deck, has ruined her chances of a medal.
But here comes Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour who has the highest difficulty rating (7.1) and is brilliant to watch.
It’s a superb routine though she seems dissatisfied with one pirouette out of a handstand. A huge score of 15.533
Team GB’s Georgia-Mae Fenton and Alice Kinsella scored 13.633 and 13.800 on vault respectively.
Rebeca Andrade (Brazil) 29.766
Kaylia Nemour (Algeria) 29.566
Simon Biles (USA) 29.499
It’s a hair’s breadth between them.
It was clear that Biles, after a slight slip as she swung from higher uneven bar to the lower bar, lost her momentum. As she finished, she looked tense, unhappy. There was a long wait for her score, and a collective intake of breath as it came up as 13.7. An excellent score if one of the Brits had made it. But Biles doesn’t do merely good. And second place is not what she was expecting.
05:59 PM BST
Biles’ error
Double twisting, double back to dismount from Biles but she made an error after the tkachev which meant the pak salto didn’t come off and she had to take another go at a rotation to give her the momentum to finish.
She is marked 13.733 which puts Andrade into the lead. Ellie Black, who was third, fell off the beam and out of contention.
05:55 PM BST
Rebeca Andrade is first on to the bars
And she scores 14.666. Next up is Biles who hasn’t made the final for this rotation.
05:54 PM BST
Biles flies into lead
On to the bars.
05:41 PM BST
Biles in the lead
Alice D’Amato starts with 14.00 on the vault and her compatriot Manila Esposito, the European all-around champion, is given 13.866
Kaylia Nemour also spots her landing after a two-and-a-half twist finish. 14.033.
On the bars, China’s Qiyuan Qiu slips off after a tkatchev gets back on and has to settle for 13.900
Elsabeth Black in the second group has scored 14.066 on the asymmetrical bars to go into third place overall after one routine.
Biles 15.766
Andrade 15.100
Black 14.066
On the floor Team GB’s Georgia-Mae Fenton scored 13.0333 and Alice Kinsella 12.833.
05:30 PM BST
Biles goes top immediately
The judges award her 15.766 for the vault.
05:30 PM BST
Here comes Biles
She goes for a 6.4 level of difficulty, This is the Biles II.
Stumbles a bit on the landing but my word!
05:28 PM BST
Lee and Andrade go first in the vault
Sunisa Lee is the first of the elite group on the vault. She veered a little off to the right on landing. Quite a wait for the adjudication from the nine judges. She is given 13.933.
On the floor Georgia-May Fenton is doing her routine to Another Brick in the Wall part two. Interesting.
Rebeca Andrade nails her one and a half twist exit and spots the landing. 15.100 with 9.5 for execution.
05:20 PM BST
Biles draws French ‘royalty’
05:17 PM BST
The competition starts at 5.15pm
The 24 gymnasts are coming out now in reverse order of their ranking at qualification. There will be four groups of six with the top group comprising Biles, Andrade, Lee plus Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour and the two Italians Manila Esposito and Alice D’Amato. They start on the vault and will then go to the bars followed by the beam and finally the floor.
05:07 PM BST
New skill watch
Reuters reports: Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade prior to the Games submitted original skills to the International Gymnastics Federation that if landed successfully in Paris would bear their names in the code of points.
Thursday’s all-around final is Biles’ last chance to attempt her asymmetric bar move, a clear hip circle forward with 1.5 turns to handstand, since she did not qualify for the apparatus final.
But the all-around final and Saturday’s vault final offer Brazil’s Andrade two more chances on her triple-twisting Yurchenko vault, consisting of a round-off, back-handspring onto the table with a triple-twisting stretched flip to finish.
Luckily for Andrade, she will know what she needs to do in the vault final to challenge Biles for gold as she will be the sixth of eight gymnasts to perform, two positions behind the American.
For 25-year-old Andrade, who led her team to a historic bronze on Tuesday, the Yurchenko triple twist may be necessary in the vault final if Biles hits her Yurchenko double pike, called the Biles II.
The upgrade would boost Andrade’s combined difficulty score to 11.6, a full point higher than in qualification and close to Biles’ 12.0, putting pressure on the American.
Biles, who earned a team gold and her eighth Olympic medal on Tuesday, already has five named skills in the code, but asymmetric bars is the only apparatus on which she does not have an eponymous skill.
Whether she throws the unique bar skill in the all-around final may ride on the results from vault, her first apparatus in the competition, and on the performance of challenger Andrade.
04:56 PM BST
Preview: The Biles Show
Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of the women’s individual artistic gymnastics all-around final from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. All eyes will be on Simone Biles. the six-time world champion, who is striving to regain the title she won at Rio 2016 but was unable to defend in Tokyo after her debilitating problems with spatial awareness, otherwise known as the twisties. Gold three years ago was won in her absence by her team-mate Sunisa Lee, who also won the team title alongside her on Tuesday night, and will provide her stiffest test tonight at Bercy together with Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade who qualified in second place and won silver in Tokyo in the all-around and gold in the vault.
Such is Biles’ pre-eminence at vault, beam and on the floor, a second Olympic all-around individual gold looks nailed on but nothing is definite even with such a bravura performance earlier in the week and her game-changing prowess in three of the four apparatus. Should she or Lee succeed, they will extende a streak of an American atop the medal stand for a sixth consecutive Olympic title. Carly Patterson won at the 2004 Athens Games, Nastia Liukin at the 2008 Beijing Games, Gabby Douglas at the 2012 London Games, Biles in 2016 and Lee at Tokyo.
Biles, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022, is going for a sixth Olympic gold.. President Biden, who posted a picture of himself awarding Biles the honour, wrote after her fifth: ““A trailblazer and role model, your unmatched power, grace, and daring inspires us all. “
Team GB’s Georgia-Mae Fenton (who qualified in 24th place) and Alice Kinsella (28th) must overcome their disappointment at falling out of the team medal placings late on but both can show their brilliance in their favoured disciplines, uneven bars and floor respectively, which will stand them in good stead for those finals later.
