For the second time in her career, gymnast Simone Biles won the Olympics individual all-around title for the US. Biles competed for gold against strong competitors, including Rebeca Andrade from Brazil, who is considered the world’s second best. However, in order to win this medal, Simone Biles would need to recover from a mistake on the uneven bars.
For the vault, Biles performed the Yurchenko double pike, which The New York Times said is the “world’s most difficult vault.” Her spectacular performance earned her 15.766 points, allowing her to get ahead of Andrade by about 0.7 points. However, on the uneven bars, Simone Biles positioned herself incorrectly on a transition. The incorrect position caused her to bend her legs to avoid hitting the mat, and she also had to do an extra swing to regain her flow. She only earned 13.733 points this time, thus moving her down to third place. According to NPR, Biles wasn’t happy about her performance, “I was a little bit disappointed in my performance on bars. That’s not usually how I swing,” she said. Fortunately, Simone Biles didn’t wobble as much as her other competitors on the balance beam, and she ended her routine with a full-twisting double back dismount. Her strong performance propelled her back into the lead, with just 0.166 points over Andrade. Finally, Simone Biles’ floor routine cemented her lead, bringing home the Olympic all-around title.
After the competition, Andrade said Biles, “extracts the best out of me. I hope I do the same out of her.” Simone Biles went on to win 4 medals at the end of the Summer Olympics. That day on August 1st, Biles became the third woman to win the individual all-around title twice.
For the vault, Biles performed the Yurchenko double pike, which The New York Times said is the “world’s most difficult vault.” Her spectacular performance earned her 15.766 points, allowing her to get ahead of Andrade by about 0.7 points. However, on the uneven bars, Simone Biles positioned herself incorrectly on a transition. The incorrect position caused her to bend her legs to avoid hitting the mat, and she also had to do an extra swing to regain her flow. She only earned 13.733 points this time, thus moving her down to third place. According to NPR, Biles wasn’t happy about her performance, “I was a little bit disappointed in my performance on bars. That’s not usually how I swing,” she said. Fortunately, Simone Biles didn’t wobble as much as her other competitors on the balance beam, and she ended her routine with a full-twisting double back dismount. Her strong performance propelled her back into the lead, with just 0.166 points over Andrade. Finally, Simone Biles’ floor routine cemented her lead, bringing home the Olympic all-around title.
After the competition, Andrade said Biles, “extracts the best out of me. I hope I do the same out of her.” Simone Biles went on to win 4 medals at the end of the Summer Olympics. That day on August 1st, Biles became the third woman to win the individual all-around title twice.