Paris: The American women’s gymnastics team is once again at the top of the Olympic medal standings. With Simone Biles as their dependable leader, the Americans easily won the gold here, three years after her withdrawal destroyed the team’s hopes of winning a gold medal. With a score of 171.296, the American women were over six points ahead of Italy, who took home the silver medal. No team was able to challenge the United States, and Brazil won bronze.
Simone Biles and her American teammates in artistic gymnastics won the gold in the team finals, just a few days after there was a slight injury scare. It was their first medal at the Olympics in Paris in 2024 and represented a remarkable resurgence for both Team USA and the athlete who made history. After the finals, Italy finished in second place with 165.494 points, ahead of Team USA’s 171.296. It was the first women’s gymnastics Olympic medal for Italy in nearly a century. Brazil’s women’s gymnastics team earned their first-ever medal in bronze, coming in little less than a point behind Italy. Along with her American teammates Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Sunisa Lee, Biles competed in the women’s artistic gymnastics team final on Tuesday at Bercy Arena. It was a crucial match for the American competitors, all of whom are making their way back to the Olympics after competing in previous editions, and particularly for Biles, who was forced to withdraw from the competition in 2020 due to a potentially fatal mental block that caused her to remove herself from contention.

The drill had assured Team USA’s win even before Biles’s score was made public

A group of people, including movie director Spike Lee and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, erupted in cheers at Biles’ bar performance earlier. Following Chiles’s fall during her beam routine, which was performed before theirs, Lee and Biles both gave strong performances on the balancing beam that garnered high points from the judges. Her fall was the only significant mistake made by Team USA during the competition, as the athletes from the United States performed elite routines that helped them advance past their rivals in each round. Jordan Chiles in the gymnastics team finals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
On July 30, 2024, in the Bercy Arena during the artistic gymnastics women’s team final of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Jordan Chiles of Team USA performs on the balance beam. Team USA faced off against gymnasts from seven other teams that performed strongly in the qualifiers: Italy, China, Brazil, Japan, Canada, Britain, and Romania in the final after winning the qualification session over the weekend. Three gymnasts from each team participate in each gymnastics category in the finals. The current all-around champion is Lee. However, the three gymnasts’ combined scores are taken into account in the team finals. These rules raise the stakes from qualifiers where all four athletes competed and the lowest-scoring athlete’s scores were subtracted from the team total, making the final very difficult for any competing athlete.

Recuperating from a little wound

During the press conference, Biles was asked by former US teammate Aly Raisman what moniker the current championship squad should have. He responded with a smile and the word FAAFO, which stands for “F–k Around and Find Out.” After suffering a small calf injury during Sunday’s qualifying round, Biles returned to the podium on Tuesday by competing in all four events alongside her 2020 colleagues Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Jade Carey, as well as 16-year-old rookie Hezly Rivera. She is the only American gymnast with eight Olympic medals, one more than Shannon Miller (1992, 1996).
In addition to competing in her third straight Olympics, Biles won a gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016. The US ladies had previously taken home the top honor in Atlanta in 1996 and London in 2012.

Break a record in a sport

With the podium finish, Biles’ total medal count from world championships and Olympic competitions reached 38, the highest in the history of the sport. Biles, who at 35 years old became the oldest gymnast on an American women’s team in 1952, and Chiles were the only members of the team to participate in every event on the schedule, which included vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. The US won the qualifying round by a commanding score of 5.435 points; however, the results did not transfer over to the finals. Each event had three gymnasts from each team, and each gymnast’s score went toward the team’s total.

Biles persisted in defending her choice to withdraw from the competition to protect herself

“I didn’t perform poorly and give up. Throughout my career, I’ve finished competitions and given many poor performances,” she remarked. “I simply got so lost my safety was at risk as well as a team medal. “I don’t think you realize how dangerous this is on hard, competitive surfaces,” she said. “I also don’t need to justify why I prioritized my health. Mental and physical well-being are synonymous.” In the six women’s gymnastics finals, including the team, individual all-around, vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor, Biles qualified. It’s unclear if she plans to compete the following week.
Regarding the timetable, she stated, “Usually, when I’ve had them before, it’s usually two or more weeks.” “Honestly, no telling/time frame; something you have to take day by day, turn by turn.” USA Gymnastics announced on Wednesday that Biles will be assessed every day to see if she can safely compete in the finals the following week.