Simone Biles made her third appearance of the Paris Olympics, and just like her first two, it was golden.
The 27-year-old once again stunned on the vault on Saturday, winning her third gold medal of the Games. She also took the top spot in the individual all-around and team final.
The victory won't come as much of a surprise to anyone who has been following gymnastics at the Olympics or at any point over the past 4+ years, as Biles has been doing things that have frankly never been seen before, including her move that made its Olympic debut in Paris, the Yurchenko double pike.
OH WOW. 🤩
Simone Biles just NAILED this vault in the final! #ParisOlympics
📺 NBC, E! and Peacock pic.twitter.com/fgFeDjZuQg— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2024
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In the final, the athletes perform two back-to-back vaults. The average of the two vaults is taken to determine their scores and podium position.
Here's a breakdown of Biles' scores:
- Vault 1: 15.700 (6.400 in difficulty, 9.400 in execution, -0.1 penalty)
- Vault 2: 14.9000 (5.600 in difficulty, 9.300 in execution)
Biles performed her namesake vault for her final time in Paris, with the Yurchenko double pike — also known as the “Biles II” — earning the three-time Olympian a score of 15.700
Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics
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The vault medal marks Biles' seventh gold and 10th overall.
Brazil's Rebeca Andrade, who came in second in the women's all-around right behind Biles, was hot on her heels. Andrade delivered an exceptional first vault that had crowds erupting and Biles, who was watching from the sidelines, beaming with a big smile.
The two competitors have been big supporters of each other throughout the entire Paris Games, and Saturday was no exception.
Andrade finished with an average score of 14.966 after delivering a massive 15.100 and 14.833 in her two vaults.
Simone wasn't the only American to medal. Her teammate Jade Carey earned bronze, marking an incredible comeback after a fluke tripping incident during the Tokyo Games.
Carey posted vault scores of 14.733 and 14.200 for an average of 14.466.
Jade Carey STICKS IT. 😤
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 3, 2024
What a performance in the vault final to secure bronze! #ParisOlympics
📺 NBC, E! and Peacock pic.twitter.com/YXsUrvxG0w
In the individual all-around, 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 the silver medalist 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 from the individual all-around from Thursday:
- 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)
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 tenth medal to her count, the most all time in U.S. women's gymnastics. Biles now has seven gold medals, two more than 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.
