Simone Biles’ Paris Olympics experience has ended, but it went out with a bang! Biles didn’t win the gold in the final event for floor exercise, as her rival, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, took the top prize, but it resulted in an ultimate moment of sisterhood and Black Girl Excellence!
For the first time, an all-Black podium was showcased for women’s Olympic gymnastics, with Andrade at gold, Biles at silver and Jordan Chiles at bronze.
According to Yahoo News, Biles took home the silver medal — her first silver and 11th overall Olympic medal — in the women’s floor exercise final on Monday. Though Biles had the most challenging floor routine, Reuters reported that two stumbles hurt her score, allowing Andrade to secure a gold medal in the event. Andrade’s final score beat Biles’ by just 0.033.
Chiles, Biles’ Team USA teammate, won the bronze medal at the event with a score of 13.766. It initially looked like Chiles would not get the medal, as a few unstable landings hurt her fifth-place score, but after submitting an inquiry, her score was changed by judges. It was her first individual medal, and her emotional reaction to her win moved attendees.
Biles and Team USA’s Suni Lee were also up for the balance beam event but finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Ultimately, it was a triumphant Olympics for Biles, who led Team USA to the team title and won gold medals in the all-around and vault events.
She leaves the games with four new medals and is officially the most decorated U.S. gymnast in Olympic history and the second-most decorated gymnast overall.
As for whether this is Biles’ last Olympics, that’s up in the air. If she were to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Games, she would be the only American gymnast to ever qualify for four Olympics. She’d also be 31 at the time, which is something worth noting, especially because she’s already the oldest female gymnast to win all-around gold this Olympics. She was the oldest female gymnast to qualify for Team USA since the 1950s, when she earned her spot on Team USA.
Even if the Paris 2024 Games are the last time Biles competes at the Olympics, she said her passion for gymnastics will never change.
“Once we’re out there, the floor is our stage, so it just feels so freeing for us because we’re in our element, we’re having fun, we’re doing what we love to do,” she told reporters in Paris after winning gold in the vault. “I think that’s why I enjoy it so much. But yeah, at a certain point as we get older it does get a little bit more scary and we’re more aware of what we’re doing … but always fun.”
