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She’s human after all. Simone Biles settled for fifth in the beam final in Paris, before returning to deliver a mesmeric floor routine to claim a silver medal in what could be her final ever appearance at the Olympics.
A captivated audience locked in on Biles’ final two performances of these enthralling Games, with the American superstar initially slipping off the perilous beam to miss out on a medal. But the gutsy Biles would return, with her trademark tumbling enough for an 11th Olympic medal behind only Brazil’s brilliant Rebeca Andrade in the floor final.
The American superstar had earlier turned away with a grimace after learning her beam score, 13.100, which included a 0.3 penalty. And it proved to be a challenging afternoon following redemption and a third Olympic gold after her statement performance in the vault on Saturday. But the beam provided a telling reminder that gymnastics is a sport of fine margins as Alice D’Amato claimed a famous gold for Italy.
Yesterday was one last chance to witness history at the Bercy Arena, which has been one of the hottest tickets in Paris. Snoop Dogg has danced to her rhythm at the Bercy Arena and Team USA’s basketball superstars, including Kevin Durant, are among the illustrious names queueing up to witness greatness.
Her final appearance and the sport’s final session in Paris brought an opportunity for a special exclamation mark to conclude one of the great sporting chapters and perhaps end a legendary career. And the beam initially delivered intense drama, leaving spectators gasping in horror at each mistake from the finalists.
It brought the gymnasts together though, given the uncomfortable viewing at each attempt to combat what proved to be a slippery beam. Sunisa Lee, Julia Soares and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea joined Biles by taking a tumble, with five slips in total. This was high risk, high reward, with the beam measuring just 10cm wide.
And Lee’s fall was especially jarring as she took the full force of the beam, leaving Biles to spin away in anguish before rushing to console her teammate a moment later.
Even Biles in her prime, at Rio de Janeiro 2016, could only win bronze in the balance beam, repeating the trick in Tokyo. But the previous drama in the event here led to a hushed silence before she began, which may have proven distracting to her performance here.
Nonetheless, she started with a switch-leap mount, a pike back ensured a fluid, dynamic start, but then the fall came. A brave face followed, recovering with a full-twisting double back to finish. But the routine proved she is indeed human. And after an agonising wait, it was only fifth place. The second-highest difficulty score in the final was not enough to salvage the performance. D’Amato and a lofty score of 14.366 proved enough for gold. And she sobbed uncontrollably after a lengthy wait to learn Andrade’s score.
The glistening, diamond-encrusted ‘GOAT’ necklace has been swinging from Biles’ neck throughout the last week. “A little ode,” she concluded. “The haters hate it, so I love it even more, it’s a special part of me and a visual reminder that I can do it.”
But her beam performance proves a telling and valuable lesson that even the greatest can experience inconsistency in their arena.
Biles would return for a floor routine packed with outstanding tumbling. She went out with towering height and explosive power amid an uncertain future. But the 0.6 point deduction after stepping out of the area twice proved costly, gifting Andrade a second individual Olympic gold medal.
This testing day emphasised the real lesson of the Games for Biles though. The conclusion of a mental journey with the help of her trusted sports therapist. She is battle-hardened and ready for anything life throws at her.
The second-most decorated female gymnast with 11 Olympic medals, behind only Larisa Latynina, of the Soviet Union with 18 medals, Biles experienced a full range of experiences on the final day of the gymnastics.
If the team gold provided the platform for Biles to sparkle, removing any lingering doubt to banish the demons from Tokyo, then the beam offered a humbling experience. Biles had previously conceded that Andrade had provided the “stress” and now she is tackling the right kind of stress.
Her legacy has extended beyond gold medals for some time, even in a purely sporting aspect. The innovation for each routine has extended to Paris. The genuine buzz to see her perform the huge Biles II vault was an unforgettable moment of Paris 2024.
And her audacious approach to each routine, gambling with techniques of a higher difficulty, which are at times a full mark higher than her rivals, would not stop at the beam, delighting those in attendance with a gripping final hurrah on the floor.
It did not fully pay off, but a willingness to try, time and again, should elevate the level of the sport in the build-up to Los Angeles 2028. If Biles is not there competing, she has now delivered the full Olympic experience.
