Biles, U.S. back on top with gymnastics team gold

PARIS — The smile on Simone Biles’ face at the end of her floor routine said it all.

As she blew kisses to a crowd erupting in “U-S-A, U-S-A” chants, it was clear that her score on the event was merely a formality. Performances by Biles and United States teammates Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey throughout Tuesday’s women’s gymnastics team final had left little doubt about the outcome.

But moments after the 27-year-old Biles walked off the floor at Bercy Arena — as the final gymnast on the final event of the night — her score of 14.666 flashed on the screen and made it official: The U.S. team had won the gold medal and were back on top of the gymnastics world yet again.

“I’m just really proud of every single one of us for overcoming something before or during this trip to get where we are today,” said Carey, who battled an illness during qualifying.

With a final total score of 171.296, the Americans defeated Italy, the silver medalists, by nearly six points, and there was an almost seven-point gap to bronze medalist Brazil. It was the fourth time that the American women have claimed gold in the event, but the first since 2016.

The gold medal follows a surprising silver finish in Tokyo three years ago, when Biles ultimately withdrew from the competition following vault, the team’s first event, due to the “twisties.”

With Biles, Chiles and Lee returning to the team and with Carey having been in Tokyo as an individual competitor, they had all talked about redemption and wanting to prove to themselves — and the world — what they were capable of together. They contemplated calling themselves the “Redeem Team,” but ultimately just decided to let their gymnastics do the talking.

And this time, everything was different.

Biles had a therapy session Tuesday morning in order to remain as calm and mentally focused as possible. And when Lee, who won the 2020 Olympic all-around title in Biles’ absence, was dealing with nerves Monday night, she turned to Chiles and Biles for guidance and they stayed up talking in Biles’ room in the Olympic Village.

“We’re just really trying to support and lean on one another,” Lee said Tuesday night. “So that’s kind of the nature of the conversation, just letting each other know that we can lean on each other because we’ve been there. It’s really hard to be doing what we are doing, and it’s easier if we can lean on each other.”

That camaraderie was immediately on display for vault, which was again the first event of the final as the team had the top score in qualifying.

Biles, who had her left calf heavily taped after injuring it Sunday, remembered her struggles in Tokyo. Chiles did too, as did Team USA women’s coach Cecile Landi, who also works with both Biles and Chiles at World Champions Centre.

They were all nervous about Biles having flashbacks. Or worse, having the same thing happen again.

Chiles, however, set the tone with her double-twisting Yurchenko in the leadoff spot, and then Carey responded with a high-scoring Cheng.

With all of the eyes of the arena firmly on her in the anchor position, Biles had a sky-high Cheng of her own for a team-leading 14.90.

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief, and Chiles leaped in celebration.

“After I finished vault, I was really like ‘whew,’ because there were no flashbacks or anything,” Biles said. “But I did feel a lot of relief. And, as soon as I landed, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, definitely we’re going to do this.’ Yeah, that’s definitely what I was thinking.”

Added Chiles: “Yo, hallelujah. No flashbacks, no nothing. Because I was like, ‘Oh, okay, I need her to just do her normal.’ So me jumping up and down was just relief.”

While there were a few hiccups the rest of the meet — Chiles fell off the balance beam on her mount — the only real competition for most of the night was for the silver medal as Italy, Brazil and Great Britain battled for the podium spots.

The American women could be seen cheering one another on and embracing after each and every routine. As the gap between the U.S. and the rest of the field continued to grow with every event, the U.S. women appeared to become increasingly relaxed.

Chiles even danced for the camera after the second rotation on bars, with Biles eventually joining in.

“I’m so proud of them,” Chellsie Memmel, the team’s technical lead, said. “We had some ups and downs in qualifying and they came together as a team. … It was just the teamwork. It was amazing to watch.

“I’m not going to lie, I was nervous throughout the whole competition, but they did their job.”

For Italy, which placed second in qualifying, the silver was its first Olympic team medal since 1928. Brazil’s bronze was its first in the sport.

The medal for Biles — her eighth overall and fifth gold in three appearances — made her the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history. Having qualified for Thursday’s all-around competition, as well as the event finals on beam, vault and floor, she will have a chance to earn the most golds by an American gymnast.

Biles told reporters that she didn’t know any of that — she said she would need to google that kind of thing — and she wasn’t interested in statistics at this point in her career. Instead, she said she was just focused on competing to the best of her ability, and getting to enjoy it this time.

“I just go out here and do what I’m supposed to and I’m doing what I love and enjoying it,” Biles said. “So that’s really all that matters to me. Yes, it’s amazing now that I hear it, but I don’t think I’ll truly understand the depth of it until I walk away from the sport.

“… We still have a couple more competitions here, so I’m trying to focus on that and so we’ll just have to see.”