Simone Biles returned to the mat Thursday to earn another gold medal, her sixth all-time and a U.S. gymnastics all-time record, in the individual all-around at the Paris Olympics.
The 27-year-old, who was already the most decorated American gymnast, becomes only the third woman in Olympic history to win the individual all-around twice, joining Larisa Latynina (1956 and 1960) and Vera Caslavska (1964 and 1968).
(Do you think MyKayla Skinner was watching?)
After a dominant performance in the team final Tuesday, where she vaulted the American women to gold, she once again showed why she deserves all accolades, proving it in the way only a generational talent can.
Biles handily won the vault and beam events. She struggled a bit in the uneven bars and finished with a spectacular floor routine to a combined score of 59.131, defeating Brazilian silver medalist Rebeca Andrade (57.932), who earned silver in the individual all-around in Tokyo and her teammate Suni Lee (56.465) to top the podium.
Here's a breakdown of her scores:
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- Vault: 15.766 (6.400 in difficulty, 9.366 in execution)
- Uneven bars: 13.733 (6.200 in difficulty, 7.533 in execution)
- Floor: 15.066 (6.900 in difficulty, 8.166 in execution)
- Beam: 14.566 (6.400 in difficulty, 8.166 in execution)
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In Tuesday's team final, Biles clinched the gold with a dazzling performance in the final floor exercise, which put the U.S. (171.296) well ahead of silver-medalist Italy (165.494) and bronze-medalist Brazil (164.497). Here's a breakdown of her performance there.
That victory made Biles the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history. Now she's added a ninth medal to her count, the most all time in U.S. women's gymnastics. And it was Biles' sixth gold medal, surpassing Anton Heida, who won five gold medals in 1904, for the all-time record held by a U.S. Olympic gymnast.
Biles is the oldest American woman to win an Olympic medal in women's gymnastics in 76 years, when three members of the 1948 U.S. bronze-medal winning team were between the ages of 27 and 29.
She is the oldest women's gymnast in the world to win gold since Soviet Union’s Polina Astakhova did so in 1964 at age 27.
