The women’s gymnastics individual all-around competition is underway this afternoon as the 2024 Olympic Games continue in Paris.
Simone Biles and Suni Lee are competing for the United States in the competition, marking the first time two gold medalists are competing against each other in the event. Biles took home the gold for women’s all-around in the 2016 Rio Olympics, and Lee earned the gold medal during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, after Biles pulled out of the competition.
Biles, Lee and teammates Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera already earned one gold medal in Paris for their showing Tuesday in the women’s gymnastics team final. Chiles, Carey and Rivera were seen in the stands ready to cheer on their teammates before the individual event started.
Other contenders include Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade and Flavia Saravia, who helped lead their team to a bronze medal in team competition, and Italy’s Alice D’Amato and Manila Esposito, who took home the silver medal for the same event.
Based on their scoring potentials, Biles is the favorite to take home the gold, with Andrade expected to win silver and Lee likely to take the bronze medal.
The 24 competitors, representing 15 countries, will each complete a routine on the balance beam, uneven bars, vault and floor.
Biles and Lee emerged to thunderous applause, each wearing warm-up jackets over their leotards. Biles wore a sparkling blue leotard, while Lee wore a blue and red leotard.
Vault rotation
Biles and Lee started on the vault. Lee kicked off the competition with a Yurchenko double fold. She scored a 13.933 for the vault.
Lee was followed by Andrade, who scored 15.100 after a near-flawless Chung vault. She scored a 9.5 out of 10 on the execution of the vaul.
Biles competed third, performing the Yurchenko double pike vault – also known as the Biles II. The complex move includes two flips in a pike position. While Biles took a spill landing the vault during warmups, she stuck it perfectly during the competition, earning a score of 15.766 – more than half a point over Andrade’s score.
The vault is one of the five moves named after the superstar gymnast: After she successfully completed the vault during the 2023 World Championships, it was renamed the Biles II.
Simone Biles may make history
There are a number of records Biles, 27, can break during the Paris Olympics. As of Tuesday, she’s the most decorated U.S. gymnast in history, with eight Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals.
If Biles takes home a gold on Thursday, she will become the oldest champion in the event in 72 years, according to CBS Sports. Maria Gorokhovskaya was 30 when she took the gold medal for the Soviet Union at the 1952 Helsinki Games.
The competition may also continue the women’s team’s winning streak in the event. An American has won the all-around gold in five straight Olympics, according to CBS Sports.
Six Team USA gymnasts have earned the gold medal overall, leaving the nation tied with the Soviet Union for most medalists in the event. If Lee or Biles take home the gold on Thursday, that will put Team USA atop the all-time list.
If Biles takes home the gold, she will also become the first gymnast to win the all-around event eight years apart.
New moves on display
In addition to the Biles II, Biles may also showcase a new bar skill during the individual all-around. She submitted an original skill on the uneven bars to the International Gymnastics Federation last week. The move involves a clear hip circle and 540-degree pirouette done into a handstand. Biles has performed a variation of the skill many times during her career.
If Biles attempts the move, it will likely be done at the beginning of her uneven bars routine, CBS News previously reported. The uneven bars are Biles’ weakest apparatus, and she will not compete in the individual event, leaving this her only opportunity to showcase the skill during the Paris Olympics.
If Biles completes the skill, the move will be named for her, making her the only active gymnast with an eponymous skill in all four events.
