In 2016, Simone Biles won gold in the women’s all-around gymnastics competition at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Eight years later, she has made history by repeating that achievement.
According to the Olympics, Biles, who secured the top spot with a total score of 59.131, faced a strong challenge from Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who finished with silver at 57.932. U.S. teammate Suni Lee earned the bronze with a score of 56.465.
Biles began the competition with a strong performance on the vault, executing her signature “Biles II” — a Yurchenko double pike — and scoring 15.766, the highest of the night. Despite a slight overrotation on her landing, the difficulty of the move secured her an early lead.
However, Biles showed some vulnerabilities on the uneven bars, her historically weaker event, per The Associated Press. As a result, she trailed Andrade going into the final two events.
In a postcompetition interview, Biles admitted the pressure at that moment was intense.
“I don’t want to compete with Rebecca no more. I’m tired, she’s way too close,” Biles said. “I’ve never had an athlete that close, so it definitely put me on my toes and it brought out the best athlete in myself.”
“I’m excited and proud to compete with her,” she continued. “But, you know, I’m getting uncomfortable, guys. I don’t like that feeling, I was stressing.”
“I swear, I’ve never seen you that stressed in my life,” Lee added.
Biles regained her composure on the balance beam, executing her performance with calm precision, reclaiming a slight lead. In the floor exercise, her strongest event, she delivered a stellar performance, earning a score of 15.066 to secure the gold medal.
After finishing the final event, Biles’ relief was palpable. A huge smile covered her face as she embraced Lee in a hug and blew kisses to the crowd. When the winners were officially announced, the two champions celebrated their victory by waving the American flag together.
Biles later shared her triumph on TikTok, lip-syncing to Kanye West’s 47th Grammy Awards speech, saying, “Everybody wanted to know what I would do if I didn’t win. I guess we’ll never know.”
