PARIS (Reuters) - Simone Biles clinched her fifth Olympic gold medal as she made a triumphant return to the women’s gymnastics team final at the Paris Games, reinforcing her status as one of the world’s greatest athletes just three years after abruptly withdrawing from the same event at the Tokyo Games.
Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all-time, earned the United States their fourth Olympic gold in the women’s team event with dazzling performances on all four apparatus.
The American has been on what she described as a “redemption tour” at the Paris Games after she shocked a global TV audience by suddenly withdrawing from the team final in Tokyo suffering from the “twisties”, a condition involving temporary loss of spatial awareness experienced by gymnasts while performing high-difficulty elements.
“I started off with therapy this morning and ... I was feeling calm and ready,” the 27-year-old told an overflowing press conference at the Bercy Arena.
With the crowd rallying behind Biles and her teammates in the absence of the French team that failed to qualify for the final, the United States finished with a total of 171.296, an impressive 5.802 points ahead of second-placed Italy.
While the Italians won their first women’s Olympic team medal since the 1928 Olympics, an incredible, high-flying vault by Rebeca Andrade helped Brazil to land the bronze, their first ever medal in the discipline. Britain finished fourth.
Biles said it was too soon to reflect on her legacy and was surprised to hear from a reporter that she has now won a jaw-dropping 38 world and Olympic medals combined.
Biles, who was competing with her left calf taped after suffering a muscle strain during Sunday’s qualifying competition, started her bid for the first of a possible five gold medals in Paris on the vault.
She powered down the runway before soaring high into the air while executing the Cheng vault to earn 14.900 points.