Simone Biles Steel, courage, and magnificence.
These best capture the performance of the American women’s gymnastics team in the Olympic qualifying round held in Paris in 2024.
The United States, headed by two Olympic all-around champions—a first in history—sprang to the top of the standings after section two, with a lead of nearly six points over Italy. This was achieved despite several times of uncertainty and doubt.
With an incredible beam routine (14.733), seven-time Olympic champion Simone Biles—who won the gold in Rio’s all-around competition—started her return at the Games. But before rotation two, Biles seemed to hurt her lower leg on the floor exercise. After being evaluated by medical experts, Biles went back to competition, choosing to utilise her left leg.
Biles won the all-around (59.566), setting a record for the highest score ever by a gymnast in an international competition this Olympic cycle. Furthermore, Biles won in the floor (14.600) and vault (15.300). In terms of rankings, Biles is now second on the beam (14.733) and seventh on uneven bars (14.433).
After the competition, Biles “felt a little something in her calf,” but her coach Cecile Landi said that she had no plans to pull out. As the meeting progressed, according to Landi, Biles began to feel better. As for her ability to compete for the remainder of the Games, there are presently no concerns.
Despite her struggles, Simone Biles’ teammates were there for her.
Suni Lee, the current Olympic all-around champion, had the uneven bars routine of her life to ensure that she would advance to the all-around final and have the chance to defend her title. She started the beam competition nervously, balancing many times. With a 56.132, Lee is only 0.067 points ahead of Jordan Chiles, who is in second position, just behind Biles. Lee currently holds the third-place positions in uneven bars (14.866) and beam (14.033). On the floor, Chiles trails Biles (13.866).
Tokyo Olympics floor champion Jade Carey will not be able to retain her title after receiving a score of only 10.633. During Carey’s performance, she committed many odd mistakes and seemed to lose her balance while doing her double tuck. In addition, she only executed one tuck before going out of bounds and onto her back. Carey recovered, finishing second on the vault with an average of 14.433, just shy of Biles’s 15.300.
With scores of 12.633 on the beam and 13.900 on the uneven bars, sixteen-year-old Hezly Rivera is the youngest American athlete competing in Paris.
Representative of her father’s nation, Algeria, Kaylia Nemour, a French-born athlete, performed one of the toughest routines ever attempted on uneven bars during the first rotation (7.1 D-score). After taking home the silver in the same event in the 2023 World Championships, Nemour is a strong contender for the individual gold medal. Nemour is currently leading the competition on uneven bars (15.600) and is third in the all-around (55.966).
China’s Qiu Qiyuan, who is rated second in the competition with a score of 15,066 points, may be Nemour’s biggest opponent.
The field for the team, all-around, and individual event finals will be determined when the fifth subdivision concludes.
