The floor exercise final provided viewers with a shot of drama to close out the gymnastics portion of the Olympics. Simone Biles, expected to win gold on floor, scored just .033 less than Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, the only gymnast who has been able to give Biles a run for her money in Paris.
Biles' routine was just as high-flying as usual, but stepping out of bounds with both feet on her final tumbling pass (as well as a few other little deductions) cost her. Andrade didn't step out of bounds once in her high-difficulty routine, and that ended up being the difference. Andrade took home gold with a 14.166, and Biles settled for silver with a 14.133.
As unexpected as that was, the major drama didn't come from Andrade's gold or Biles' silver. It came from the bronze medal spot. Jordan Chiles, the final gymnast to perform, initially scored a 13.666, which put her in fourth place behind Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu's 13.700. But Chiles' coaches submitted a scoring inquiry for one skill, the tour jete. In qualifications and the team all-around, Chiles didn't completely execute the skill, which requires a full 180-degree turn, and therefore didn't receive credit for the skill.
And Chiles initially didn't receive credit for the skill on Monday. But her coaches felt she had executed the skill correctly and completely, and immediately submitted an inquiry on her behalf. After review, the judges improved her score by an entire tenth, giving her a 13.766 and a surprise bronze medal.
American Suni Lee earns her sixth Olympic medal with a bronze on the uneven bar. Kaylia Nemour of Algeria earns a massive 15.700 to take gold — becoming the first gymnast representing an African country to win a medal in gymnastics — while Qiu Qiyuan of China earns silver with a score of 15.500.
Carlos Yulo wins second individual Olympic gold with first-place finish on vault
Carlos Yulo, who won gold on vault yesterday to earn the Philippines' first gymnastics medal, takes gold in the men's vault final with a huge score of 15.116. Artur Davtyan of Armenia competes last and sneaks past to take silver, while Great Britain's Harry Hepworth settles for bronze.
Kari Anderson
The last competitor is Armenia's Artur Davtyan, who earns a huge score of 14.966 to take silver.
Kari Anderson
Mahdi Olfat of Iran puts up a strong showing, but bobbles the landing on his first vault. He earns a 14.266, and is out of medal contention; Carlos Yulo and Harry Hepworth are guaranteed a medal.
Kari Anderson
Croatia's Aurel Benovic earns a 14.900 total score, leaving Yulo and the two Brits on the podium — for now. Two more gymnasts to go.
Kari Anderson
Four-time Olympian Igor Radivilov of Ukraine puts up great execution on his first vault, but falls while attempting to stick the second. He earns a score of 14.166, and currently sits in last.
Kari Anderson
Carlos Yulo of the Philippines is up, starting off with an outrageous 15.433-point vault and following it up with a solid second vault for a total score of 15.116.
Yulo won gold on floor yesterday, earning the Philippines' first Olympic medal in gymnastics, and he might be poised for another: He now sits on top with a slight lead, with four gymnasts still to go.
Kari Anderson
Great Britain's Jake Jarman, the reigning world champion on this event, puts up two stunners but has some issues with landing deductions. He earns a 14.933 and moves into second, behind his teammate Harry Hepworth.
Kari Anderson
The men's vault finals, the last apparatus final of the day, is now underway. Vault competitors will post two vaults, with the two scores averaged for a total score.
Ukraine's Nazar Chepurnyi starts off the field with a total score of 14.899, followed by Great Britain's Harry Hepworth, who earned a total of 14.949.
Kari Anderson
In an interview after the event, Suni Lee reiterates how grateful she is to be in Paris. Lee has been dealing with health issues for over a year, and was unsure if she would be able to compete even just a few months ago; now she has three medals from these games, with a chance for another at the beam final tomorrow.
Kari Anderson
And she does it! Suni Lee earns a 14.800 and earns her third Olympic medal of these games with a bronze in the uneven bars.
Suni Lee wins an uneven bars bronze medal with a fantastic routine in the final! #ParisOlympics
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2024
Kari Anderson
Suni Lee looks great on bar, as her teammates and family cheer her on from the stands. The question remains: Will it be enough to get on that podium?
Kari Anderson
And now it's time for Suni Lee. Lee will do her best to defend her Tokyo bronze medal in the event. She needs a score higher than 14.766 in order to medal — which is certainly possible; she scored a 14.866 in qualifiers.
Kari Anderson
Germany's Helen Kevric has to follow up Nemour's routine, but does a solid job, scoring a 14.566. Unfortunately, it will not be enough to be in medal contention.
Kari Anderson
And here comes Kaylia Nemour, who absolutely nails a beautiful routine and earns a massive score of 15.700. Nemour was immediately emotional after she landed (a near stick) with the nearly perfect routine. She is guaranteed a medal — and it's likely to be gold.
OH MY. 😲
What a stellar uneven bars routine from Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour! #ParisOlympics
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2024
Kari Anderson
Qiu Qiyuan of China, who has one of the highest start values in the field, gets a huge stick on her landing and zooms to first with a 15.500. Both Qiu and Kaylia Nemour, who is going next, are only 17 years old, and they look like they could be at the top of the podium — assuming everything goes as planned in Nemour's routine.
Kari Anderson
Great Britain's Becky Downie gets a fall as her hands slip off the bar, before resetting and getting back on to earn a 13.633. Downie, who is 32, is a decorated gymnast but has never won an Olympic medal; unfortunately, that will continue in Paris.
Kari Anderson
Nina Derwael of Belgium, who won the event in Tokyo 2020, puts up a strong score of 14.766 in the hopes of defending her medal. She moves into the lead, with five competitors remaining.
Kari Anderson
Next up is Italian Alice D'Amato, who led Italy to a team silver medal last week. D'Amato looks graceful on the bars, getting good height and nailing her dismount to earn a 14.733 to put her in a good spot.
Kari Anderson
16-year-old Zhang Yihan is up first for China. She falls during her routine — taking her out of the running for a medal — but she gets back up and finishes the event. Zhang finishes with a 12.800, setting a low bar for the rest of the field.
Kari Anderson
Suni Lee will be wearing a red leotard in the bars final today — the same leo that her teammate Simone Biles wore yesterday, on her way to winning the gold medal in the vault final. Biles is in the audience at Bercy Arena to support Lee; she competes in two events tomorrow.
The women's uneven bars final is up, and American Suni Lee will vie for her third medal of the game. Lee is strong on bars, but does not have the highest start value; that would be Algeria's Kaylia Nemour, who finished with a 15.533 in the event during the all-around final on Thursday.
Lee, who is competing last in the event, will need to have an excellent performance in order to reach the podium with her routine, but that is well within her grasp.
Kari Anderson
The rings final finishes with Great Britain's Harry Hepworth, who earns a 14.800, and Armenia's Vahagn Davtyan with 14.866.
China will finish one-two on rings with Liu Yang taking gold and Zou Jingyuan taking silver. Greece's Eleftherios Petrounias holds on to take bronze.
Kari Anderson
Big cheers for French gymnast Samir Ait Said, who performs a strong routine and gets a stick in front of his home crowd. He gets a 15.000, and just misses out on moving into one of the three medal spots.
Turkey's Adem Asil also missed out on the podium with a 14.966.
Kari Anderson
The men's rings final is underway in Paris
The first four of eight competitors have completed their routines. Chinese gymnastics Liu Yang and Zou Jingyuan sit in the top two sports with scores of 15.300 and 15.233, with Greece's Eleftherios Petrounias in third with a score of 15.100.
Belgium's Glen Cuyle fell on the landing and received a 13.833; he will not medal.
Kari Anderson
Day two of the gymnastics apparatus finals is underway, with Sunisa Lee competing for the United States on the uneven bars. There are three events on the slate today: men's rings, women's bars and men's vault. Lee will be the only American competing today, as none of the U.S. men's gymnasts qualified for these two finals.
Christian and Alexis react to a busy weekend in the MLS playoffs including the shocking elimination of Inter Miami. Then, the guys recap last weekend’s Premier League results. Later, Christian and Alexis break down the viral video that has gotten Premier League referee David Coote suspended indefinitely.
Through all of the early December craziness, Dan Wetzel, Ross Dellenger and Pat Forde assemble to catch you up on National Signing Day and Conference Championship Week.
Let this be the standard that ends all talk about Kyle Shanahan being able to make it work with any QB in his scheme. It’s a fallacy that has been proven before, but also conveniently forgotten.
The Patriots didn't buy into late-stage draft nitpicking last spring. There's a tone change inside the Browns organization regarding their starting QB situation. And Broncos coach Sean Payton knew exactly what he was doing.