By Paris
CNN
—
Simone Biles slipped off the balance beam and incurred costly penalties on the floor as she failed to win a gold medal for the first time at these Summer Olympics in Paris – which have been serving as an emphatic comeback from disappointment three years ago in Tokyo.
In the individual beam final, Biles lost her balance and fell off the apparatus, costing her a chance to make even more history here in France. Alice D’Amato of Italy took home the gold, Zhou Yaqin of China took silver and Italian Manila Esposito took the bronze.
Later in the floor final, Biles appeared to have put together another stunning performance on an apparatus on which she has excelled here in Paris. But two moments of landing out of bounds cost Biles six-tenths of a point, enough to bring her score down to 14.133 behind gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, who scored a 14.166.
It’s a slightly disappointing end to an incredible Games for the American legend. Biles, already the most decorated gymnast of all time, put her name next to a few more records last week when she won the gold in the team event with Team USA, the individual all-around competition and the vault final.
With those wins, Biles became the most decorated American Olympic gymnast of all time – now with 11 total Olympic medals, including seven gold – and also became the oldest American gymnast to win a gold medal at 27.
While it wasn’t the result she wanted, Biles is not walking away from Paris disappointed.
“I accomplished way more than my wildest dreams – not just at this Olympics, but in this sport,” Biles told reporters afterward. “So I can’t be mad at my performances. A couple years ago, I didn’t think I’d be back here at an Olympic Games, so competing and then walking away with four medals, I’m not mad about it. I’m pretty proud of myself.”
She had a chance to tie another incredible mark if she had won both the beam and the floor exercises on Monday. The only two women to ever win nine Olympic gold medals are American swimmer Katie Ledecky and Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina. Biles will have to wait until Los Angeles in 2028 if she wants to try and reach that mark.
In pictures: Superstar gymnast Simone Biles
It was a tough day on the beam overall for many as multiple competitors fell, including Biles’ Team USA teammate Sunisa Lee.
Lee lost her footing during her routine and slipped, landing with the beam between her legs before tipping over onto the mat on her side. She would end up finishing in sixth place, one spot behind Biles.
Unlike Biles, the 2020 gold medalist in the all-around won’t get another chance on Monday to redeem herself. The beam was Lee’s last competition here in Paris.
“It was a lot of pressure. It was just crazy to see how everybody was going down like that,” Lee said after. “You could feel the tension in the room. The crowd shushing us for cheering. We didn’t like that as it was just so silent in there. I love hearing my teammates cheer for me.”
Biles added that it was a weird beam final and that the silence in the arena – marked by some shushing from the crowd when the gymnasts tried to cheer on their teammates – was a little unsettling. She said she and other gymnasts have previously asked for music to be piped in during the beam finals, but have been denied.
“I don’t know. It was really weird and awkward,” Biles said. “And we’ve asked several times if we can have some music or some background noise, so I’m not really sure what happened there. But yeah, not our favorite. None of us liked it.”
A pressure-packed floor final
The moment marked a massive test for Biles later on Monday when she took on the floor final.
Throughout these Olympics, Biles has emphasized what a key role her mentality has played in bouncing back from disappointment in Tokyo. She acknowledged after the team final that thoughts of her withdrawal from those events three years ago were lingering as she began her vault for Team USA.
Biles, who has talked about the importance of taking care of her mental health during these Games after each of her golden performances, has said she’s speaking with her therapist every morning before competition and religiously every Thursday.
“After all these years of putting in the mental work in, it’s paid off,” Biles said Saturday after winning her latest gold.
She added, “The Olympics is such a draining process for the athletes. It’s multiple days of competitions, so you definitely have to be on top of your mental as well as your physical [health].”
Her routine was full of the power and grace that Biles has made her trademark. Her speed and the torque on her spins were incredible and her flips made her appear to be floating on air. But all that power and speed had a side-effect as the American on two occasions had to step out of bounds in order to catch her footing, incurring those costly penalties.
When she finished, Biles looked to have done more than enough to pip Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade to the gold medal. Andrade’s total score was far below the performances that Biles had been turning in on the floor during her appearances earlier in the competition and, if the American performed to her usual standard, then she was a shoo-in for gold.
But those few tiny stumbles were just enough to give the Brazilian her second Olympic gold medal. Andrade had pushed and pushed Biles throughout these Paris Games, in the individual all-around competition and the vault final in which the American took home the Olympic title.
After Thursday night’s all-around final, Biles said she loved competing against the Brazilian, but Andrade was getting “too close.”
“I don’t want to compete with Rebeca no more. I’m tired,” Biles said at the time. “She’s way too close. I’ve never had an athlete that close, so it definitely put me on my toes, and it brought up the best athlete in myself, so I’m excited and proud to compete with her but … it was uncomfortable, guys. I was stressing.”
Biles and Chiles bow to Andrade, the new queen of the floor
Biles seemed to take the disappointment in stride – her and bronze medalist Jordan Chiles bowed before the Brazilian after the competition, hailing her as the new queen of the floor.
“She’s so amazing. She’s queen,” Biles said of Andrade on Monday. “And first it was an all-Black podium, so that was super exciting for us. But then Jordan was like, ‘Should we bow to her?’ And I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ So we’re like, ‘Are we gonna do it now?’ And then, that’s why we did it.
“But she’s, she’s such an excitement to watch. And then all the fans in the crowd always cheering for her. So it was just the right thing to do. She’s sweet.”
Chiles said she wanted to make sure that Andrade got the praise that she felt the Brazilian deserved and that the new gold medalist is one of the kinder competitors to go up against.
“You know, she’s an icon, a legend herself,” Chiles said. “So I feel like being recognized is what everybody should do when it comes to somebody who’s put in the work, put in the dedication. So yeah, in that moment, I was like … first off, again, yes, it was an all-Black podium. Second off, why don’t we just give her flowers? She’s given, you know, not only has she given Simone her flowers, but a lot of us on, in the United States our flowers as well, so giving it back is what makes it so beautiful. So I felt like it was needed.”
Chiles herself only just got on the medal stand in another dramatic twist. After her routine, she was awarded a score of 13.666, putting her in fifth place. But then she challenged the judges’ score and her difficulty marks were increased by .1 points, enough to move her over Romania’s Ana Bărbosu for the final spot on the podium.
This story has been updated with additional information.
