As Simone Biles offered herself a few final quiet words of encouragement by the balance beam before she returned to compete in front of the world once again, the entire spectacle could have been so overwhelming. Bercy Arena was exploding with excitement whenever her name was mentioned. Countless celebrities, from Tom Cruise to Ariana Grande, lined the stands and flashed up on the screens. All eyes were on Biles, and she knew it.
The competition draw that Biles and her US teammates received was also unhelpful. They were required to start on the balance beam, the most unpredictable apparatus and the event that exposes all tension and uncertainty. If you cannot control your nerves, you will fall.
But Biles effortlessly worked her way through a smooth, efficient opening beam routine without a flicker of uncertainty. That would set the tone for a spectacular return to Olympic competition as she qualified for the all-around final in first place with a score of 59.566. Biles’s score is the biggest international all-around score of the Olympic cycle and she leads Rebeca Andrade by 1.866 after the Brazilian qualified in second with a personal best score of 57.7.
Biles is in the hunt for five medals after qualifying in first on the vault, second on the balance beam and first place on floor, and the US team also finished qualifying in first. On the uneven bars, Biles sits in ninth as the first alternate in case of an injury to a qualified gymnast. Andrade, Biles’s closest rival, finished one place below Biles in every individual category.
Despite her excellent performance, Biles finished her first day of competition with concerns about a calf injury she managed after she looked in discomfort during her time on the competition floor. Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, Biles’s coach, said she had “just a little something in her calf”, pain she had felt a few weeks ago before it flared up again during the competition. Asked if there were any concerns over her not competing, Landi said: “Never in her mind, no.”
Throughout the subdivision, the second of five, there were numerous potential road bumps for the US team. Just before Biles began her floor exercise, Jade Carey, the reigning Olympic champion, performed a watered-down routine and then bailed out of her final tumbling pass. Biles was charged with immediately following up her teammate, but calmly produced a brilliant floor routine.
While Biles had taken her triple-twisting double back somersault – the Biles II – out of her routine last year, she landed it comfortably and even slightly overpowered the skill, smiling as she took a small step out of bounds. Although she has room to improve, Biles’s floor exercise score of 14.6 has been matched internationally only by Andrade during this Olympic cycle.
Things can unravel so quickly in gymnastics, particularly when injuries are involved, and there was immediate cause for concern as Biles was warming up for the vault. After one attempt, she crawled and then limped back to the start of the vault runway. Moments later, she attempted her Yurchenko double pike vault – the Biles II – but landed it short, falling to her knees.
While she was clearly in pain, her ankle and calf heavily taped, Biles still appeared to be in good spirits as she smiled, chatted with her teammates and seemed to reassure everyone that she was OK. Then she sprinted down the runway and produced a supreme Yurchenko double pike vault, her first time doing so in Olympic competition. Biles’s second vault, the Cheng, was big and she finished with an average vault score of 15.3. No woman has averaged more than 15 points during this Olympic cycle.
After completing a calm and easy uneven bars routine, Biles finally allowed herself to look out to her audience of 20,000 and waved to each side of the stadium with a chuckle as her redemption tour began with a spectacular performance.
Three other members of the US Tokyo 2020 team competed alongside Biles on Sunday: Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey, each gymnast on their own redemption run after finishing with a silver medal three years ago. The presence of Lee, the Tokyo 2020 women’s all-around champion, is particularly notable. Now 21, Lee has had a difficult time since then after attempting to compete as a college gymnast and then suffering a serious kidney illness last year.
It seemed unlikely she would even be in contention for Paris, but Lee recovered her level just in time and she has qualified for the all-around final in third place with a score of 56.132. Lee can also compete for medals on the uneven bars and balance beam. While Chiles finished in fourth place, just .067 behind Lee, only two gymnasts per country can compete in the all-around final.
The first subdivision showcased another special return. Over the past three years, Great Britain’s Becky Downie has had to digest the tragic sudden death of her younger brother the day before the Tokyo Olympic trials, the blowback she and her sister received after whistleblowing on abuse within gymnastics, numerous major injuries and not being selected for the last Games. Still, she remained determined to see if she could fulfil her goal of becoming an Olympic medallist.
Early on Sunday morning, Downie stepped up and nailed her incredibly difficult bars routine, scoring 14.666. As the 32-year-old finished her routine, Downie could not hold back the tears of relief and joy. After a long day of waiting, Downie qualified for the uneven bars final in seventh place and Great Britain also qualified for the all-around final in seventh place.
