2024 Olympics: Simone Biles revisits Olympic history

In front of a packed Belsey Arena, Biles and compatriots Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee and Jade Carey won team gold with a total score of 171.296, ahead of Italy, which had not won a medal in the event since 1928. Biles scored 165.494, while Brazil won its first team Olympic medal (164.497).

This is a chance for the American team to regain its title, having been beaten by Russian gymnasts at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where it finished with a silver medal. The American team now has four gold medals in team events. Most importantly, it is also a chance for Biles to once again express her love for gymnastics, after she had to interrupt her journey during the Tokyo Olympics due to depression, which kept her from competing for two years.

The Texan started her medal count in Paris: thanks to her victory in the team final, she now has five gold medals and eight Olympic medals in total. Sensing a moment of redemption, all of Hollywood began to admire the woman who was once again writing a chapter in the history of rhythmic gymnastics.

Comaneci, Serena Williams, Nicole Kidman

In the stands, Biles had the enthusiastic support of actress Nicole Kidman, director Spike Lee, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and even former tennis player Serena Williams. The owner of Cojo Tony Estanguet did not miss anything either, as did the French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. The eternal gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci was also in the stands. And above all her husband Jonathan Owens, American football player (Chicago Bears).

Biles, who again played through pain in qualifying on Sunday and still had a bandage on her left calf, wore a big smile in her white and red glittery tights after each performance, even though her performance was not perfect. The new title brought him great joy.

Because it was during the team competition at the Tokyo Olympics that Biles had a mental breakdown. She then explained that she was the victim of a “distortion”, a momentary loss of spatial orientation. “I realized that I just wanted to leave the room and take care of my mental health. I knew the healing process would be long. But I also had faith that I would get through it,” she said in an interview with L’Equipe published last Friday.

“For Simone”

The athlete has not forgotten these terrible moments, nor the criticism directed at her on social networks. “In Tokyo, I received a lot of negative messages and insults. I was weak, cowardly, selfish, I replaced a more deserving gymnast. It was because of me that the American team did not win the gold medal…” she told Sport.

In Paris, things are decidedly different. She frequently posts messages, photos and videos on her Instagram account, talking about her daily Olympic life, the pain of chocolate that she discovers and loves, the hairdresser she gets on the shuttle to the “Arena”, the hairdresser at work.

Biles is such a figure that some Americans did not hesitate to cross the Atlantic to see her perform. “We are here to encourage the whole American team and, of course, Simona. This is definitely her last competition and we want to be there to support her. She is an inspiration to so many little girls,” Kaylia Heard of Ohio told AFP.

On Thursday, Biles will qualify for a second medal with her individual all-around performance, having previously won one Olympic title (2016) and six world titles. She will be able to further enrich her collection with three finals (4 events in total) on apparatus (Saturday and Monday): vault, beam and floor. But his staff told the media that they let Biles choose whether to line up to avoid any pressure on him.

AFP

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