From pain to final: See how Simone Biles’ day went in artistic gymnastics qualifying | Olympics

Simone Biles tested the hearts of qualified artistic gymnastics fans. One of the biggest names in the sport, the Olympic champion managed to secure a spot on five of the six apparatus. Biles was off the uneven bars only, where she did not make the top eight. No one who saw her fine performance on Sunday could have imagined that the American had to deal with pain for most of the competition, even “crawling” onto the vault.

Before performing on the floor, Simone felt her right ankle during the warm-up. The athlete even had a limp, but it was fixed with a plaster boot. When the performance began, she glowed as usual, without any sign of pain.

After the qualifying competitions, Simone Biles’ coach eased the athlete’s pain during the competition. Cecile Landi explained that the gymnast has been suffering from the injury for a few weeks, but she stressed that it will not hinder her in the finals. If the decision is like what we saw on Sunday, Biles will really put on a show, regardless of the pain. See how the Olympic champion performed on each apparatus:

Simone Biles started brightly on one of her disciplines: the balance beam, the only apparatus on which she won an individual medal in Tokyo. With a meticulous display of extremely difficult acrobatic moves, Biles did not lose her balance, and received a standing ovation after the performance. The American earned 14.733 points and secured her place in the final even before the end of the divisions. In the overall picture, she was only bettered by China’s Yaqin Zhou, who totaled 14.866.

Even with the pain before the floor exercise, Biles was the best of the day on the machine. The American opened the series with a Biles II (double flip with triple spin), a move that only she can do, but she took a big step back and went out of the zone. There was also not a very precise arrival to Biles I, a step forward. Still, the series was very difficult, with a score of 6.8. In the end, Biles scored 14,600 points and came in first place. She was followed by Brazilian Rebecca Andrade, who received a slight deduction for imbalance and totaled 13,900.

Biles scared everyone when she crawled to warm up for the vault. In the end, it was just a way to save herself as much as possible until the show came. When she went to warm up for Biles’ second, the famous double Yurchenko pike (difficulty 6.4), Simone fell. However, training is training and the game is the game. By the time it came into play, Biles had a 15.800 rating, just one step short of the finish. On the second vault to make up the average rating, Biles performed a Cheng (difficulty 5.6) with long strides at the finish, earning a 14.800. The American led the field with a 15.300 average. Behind her again was Rebecca Andrade, with a score of 14,683.

Biles missed only the uneven bars final. On this apparatus, the American received a -1.167 deduction and finished ninth with a total of 14.433. Biles and Rebecca’s paths crossed again, with both disqualified from this competition, but they qualified for the rest of the finals. On the bars, Simone did not submit the unprecedented element she had submitted for approval in the scoring code.

The American also secured a place in the all-around final. Simone finished top of the rankings among athletes, adding an average of 59.566 on all apparatus. Rebecca Andrade came in second with 57.700. Brazil’s Flavia Saraiva will also be involved in the decision.

Giants of artistic gymnastics, the United States dominated the qualifying rounds. Led by Biles, who added a very high score to the team’s overall average, the Americans finished with a total of 172.296 and will also compete in the team final. Italy (166.861) and China (166.628) were second and third, respectively. Brazil came in fourth with 166.499.

The women’s national team final will be held next Tuesday (30) starting at 1:15 pm (Brasilia time). As for the public, the decision will be made on Thursday (1) at the same time. The apparatus finals will be held over the weekend, starting on Saturday (3), at 10:30 am.