How the U.S. Reclaimed Its Golden Crown in Women’s Gymnastics Final
The United States women’s gymnastics team won gold in the team competition at the Paris Olympics in nearly flawless fashion, making only one major mistake across 12 routines. Italy won the silver — its first Olympic team medal in women’s gymnastics in nearly a century — and Brazil came back from early mistakes to earn the bronze, its first Olympic medal in the event.
Vault
Jordan Chiles started the United States off on a good note with a solid double-twisting Yurchenko. Then Jade Carey, competing on only one event because she is recovering from an illness, nailed a more difficult vault called a Cheng. Then came Simone Biles, who drilled another Cheng in event, the same one that drove her out of the competition three years ago.
Bars
After solid routines from Chiles and Biles, Sunisa Lee delivered a score of 14.566 on the uneven bars, her best event. Lee’s feet brushed the mat as she performed a difficult full-twisting transition from the high bar to the low one, resulting in her earning a score three-tenths lower than she received in the qualifications round. But it was still the Americans’ highest mark on bars.
Beam
The United States had a momentary scare when Chiles fell on her mount, a front flip that has caused her trouble before. But Lee brought the team back on track right away with a picture-perfect routine, which scored more than half a point higher than her routine in the qualifications round. And Biles hit a solid set marred only slightly by a wobble on a side aerial.
Floor
By the time the Americans got to the floor exercise, the gold medal was clearly theirs to lose. Lee gave a graceful performance on the event, which she had not been expected to do in the team final before Carey’s illness. Chiles nailed a Beyoncé-inspired routine and appeared overcome by emotion as she finished. And then Biles did what only she can do, hitting four extraordinarily difficult tumbling passes, two of them named after her, to officially secure the gold.
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