Yahoo Sports U.S. Women Absolutely Dominate To Win Gold In Gymnastics Team Event
The U.S. women’s gymnastics squad reclaimed the Olympic gold medal in the team event in Paris Tuesday ― and it was never really in doubt.
Simone Biles took another step in redirecting the conversation about her mental health back to her unsurpassed excellence in the sport. Meanwhile, her teammates held their nerves on a pressure-packed night.
Italy took silver and Brazil snagged bronze.
The floor exercise, the final rotation, served as a dagger for the rest of the field, which trailed throughout the team competition. Suni Lee of the U.S. performed like a technician, scoring 13.533, teammate Jordan Chiles, who was the emotional spark plug all night, picked up the energy a notch in her routine and scored 13.966.
Biles submitted the coupe de grace, a fitting conclusion for the 2016 all-around gold medalist who struggled in 2021 in Tokyo ― and has found her way back to the top. Oozing confidence, Biles flew high on her tumbling segments and at the end blew on her hand is if it were on fire, securing a score of 14.666.
The U.S. team then whooped it up and posed with the American flag — back on top again.
To begin the night, the Americans came out blazing in arguably their best event, the vault, to take an immediate lead. Biles slightly lowered the difficulty of her qualifying vault and earned a 14.9, followed by a 14.8 by Jade Carey in her only rotation and a 14.4 by Chiles for a total of 44.1.
Their momentum continued on the uneven bars. Chiles performed a solid 14.366 routine, thrusting her fists in the air and yelling, “Let’s go!” Biles rushed a tad through her moves but her athleticism and a solid landing earned her a 14.400. Lee, who belly flopped in practice, remained undaunted by a missed connection in her actual routine, getting a score of 14.566.
With the Americans holding a comfortable lead, Chiles fell on her mount for the balance beam but kept her cool through the rest of her routine for a 12.733. Lee picked up the slack with a 14.600. Biles ensured that the competition was the Americans’ to lose heading into the final rotation. She avoided a fall by clawing on to the beam with her toes, earning 14.366.
Though she did not compete, first-time Olympian Hezly Rivera was the fifth member of the medal-winning squad.
Holding nearly a 4-point lead, only profound mistakes would deny the U.S. women their first gold since Rio in 2016.
They settled for silver against the Russians in Tokyo when Biles withdrew from the competition wracked with mental distress and disorientation in her acrobatics. She then withdrew from the all-around competition, prompting worldwide discussions about mental health while some cast aspersions on her.
Biles dealt with a troublesome but reportedly minor calf muscle injury in the qualifying round this time around. It was still wrapped on Tuesday but didn’t appear to be an issue.
Nothing much went wrong on a magical night.
