A hush fell over Bercy Arena in Paris as Simone Biles stood at the end of the vault runway. A closeup shot on the big screen showed Simone's chalked-up feet on the pastel blue carpet. Her left ankle was heavily taped.
Then for six seconds, Simone suspended all worries. She nailed her eponymous vault and led the United States into the team final while also advancing to four of five individual finals.
The United States had the highest qualifying score of the eight teams that advanced to Tuesday's final. The US total of 172.296 points was more than five points better than second-place qualifier Italy. The scores reset for the final as the United States will attempt to win back the gold medal after a second-place finish in Tokyo.
Three years after she left the floor suddenly during that team final, Simone was again walking side-by-side with medical personnel after she complained of calf discomfort before the second event. She left the floor warm-up area flanked by the US team doctor. Sitting away from the team, US gymnastics technical lead Chellsie Memmel said she "might have felt like I was gonna puke."
The injury popped up several weeks ago, said Simone's coach, Cecile Landi, but subsided before appearing again Sunday.
The coach was not concerned about Simone's ability to compete in the team final Tuesday or any event finals. Chellsie said the thought of pulling out of qualification or reducing the difficulty of her routines never crossed Simone's mind.
"Incredible," Chellsie said of Simone's performance. "She is an outstanding gymnast and a person, just overall human. So what she was able to do with looking like she had some soreness or something in her lower leg is remarkable."
With the world waiting to see what she would do in her return to the Olympic stage after a dramatic withdrawal three years ago, Simone towered over the competition. She drew a standing ovation from a star-studded crowd that included celebrities Anna Wintour, Ariana Grande, and Tom Cruise after her beam routine. She posted the top scores in all-around (59.566), vault (15.300) and floor (14.600) and the second-highest on beam (14.733). After competing in an empty arena in Tokyo, Simone soaked up the atmosphere and capped her performance with a two-handed wave to the crowd after her bars routine, the only event in which she did not make a final.
Suni Lee edged out Jordan Chiles for the all-around finals.
Reigning Olympic champion Suni Lee qualified to the all-around final third overall (56.065) behind Brazil's Rebeca Andrade. Suni edged out teammate Jordan Chiles, who trailed Lee by 0.067 points to finish third. Although 24 competitors advance to the all-around final, only two are allowed per team.
Jordan advanced to her first individual Olympic final after her 13.866 on floor, placing third in qualifying. The UCLA star had Snoop Dogg dancing as he watched her Beyoncé routine next to her parents. She finished the second subdivision in second on floor, where the top eight advance to the final with no more than two gymnasts per country.
After the floor warm-up, Simone was shown on camera telling US coaching and medical staff she was experiencing discomfort in her calf. She returned with her left ankle taped.
Simone received thunderous applause each time she saluted the judges. She stepped out of bounds on her first pass. She appeared to be treading as lightly as possible on her left foot. But she still executed the hardest floor routine in the world to help the United States recover after a fall from Jade Carey.
Olympic floor champion Jade Carey did not fare as well.
The reigning Olympic floor champion struggled in her signature event and rolled out of bounds on her final pass, knocking her out of finals contention. Jordan rallied on vault and qualified for the final with an average score of 14.433. Hezly Rivera, the only US athlete making her Olympic debut, did not qualify for a final.
Rebeca, who could debut a new triple-twisting vault that would be named for her if she completes it, qualified second with a 14.683 average, but neither could top Simone's 15.300. The seven-time Olympic medalist scored a 15.800 on her first vault, executing her signature Yurchenko double pike.
A few minutes earlier, Simone was crawling on the vault runway to protect her ankle. When asked of her thoughts when she saw it, Chellsie, who was not on the floor with the team, joked that her feelings in the moment were not appropriate to share out loud.
But Cecile, Simone's personal coach since 2017, knew there was nothing to be concerned about.
"It's Simone," Cecile said.
Simone was still smiling while crawling on all fours.
-by Thuc Nhi Nguyen
©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
