Fans everywhere were a bit on edge when projected Olympic gold-medalist, Simone Biles, entered her third rotation at Thursday’s individual all-around finals. For the first time in a while, Biles was in 2nd place after Russian gymnast Aliya Mustafina, as she finished up the first half of the competition. The 19-year-old wasn’t fazed, though. She told The LA Times, “That’s a normal score for me. I wasn’t upset. I was just relieved that bars were over because I’ve been struggling with that.” Biles had confidence knowing her last two events are arguably her strongest, and that her impressive difficulty scores would give her a leg-up in the competition.
Killing the beam, @Simone_Biles 15.433 #ArtisticGymnastics #Rio2016
Simone’s beam routine is unparalleled, and the 4-foot-8 athlete walked away from the 4-inch-wide apparatus with a score of 15.433. No other competitor broke a 15 on beam in Thursday’s competition. The score pretty much secured her the gold, but Simone wanted to go one step further and prove just how good she is. She gave it her all on the floor, and was awarded a 15.933. Simone won the competition with a 62.198– 1.2 points above fellow teammate, Aly Raisman, who took home the silver.
Biles received a 15.866 on the vault, and a 14.966 on the bars. She made it to beam with a 30.832– just .028 shy of of Mustafina. Her near-flawless (apart from one wobble) beam routine sprung her back into the lead, where she stayed for the remainder of the competition. Biles has had an extremely impressive run in Rio thus far. On Tuesday, she led the USA to their second-consecutive team gold, and beginning on Sunday, she’ll be competing in the event finals for women’s gymnastics.