American gymnast, the most decorated in her sport, Simone Biles, made an impressive return to Olympic competition on Sunday.
Despite experiencing pain in her left calf, Biles kickstarted her quest for multiple medals with a remarkable performance.
Biles, who already boasts four gold medals from the Rio 2016 Olympics, injured her calf while warming up for the floor exercise, her second apparatus.
Nevertheless, she executed her signature Yurchenko double pike vault, known as the Biles II, with a slight step back on landing but still scored 9.4 for execution, totaling 15.800 points.
Her second vault also ended with a step back, prompting laughter as she playfully crawled back to her teammates, signaling to coach Cecile Landi that she was in good spirits.
Landi, aware that Biles had aggravated a minor injury from a few weeks prior, stated there was never any question of Biles continuing.
“Never in her mind,” Landi affirmed, expressing confidence that Biles would be ready for the team final on Tuesday and subsequent individual events.
With three out of five qualifying sessions completed, the United States led the team standings with 172.296 points, followed by Italy and China, all securing places in the final.
Japan, with a standout performance by 16-year-old Kishi Rina, was in fourth place, ahead of Britain, Romania, and The Netherlands.
Medal contenders Brazil and France had yet to compete.
Biles led the all-around standings with 59.566 points.
Landi praised her performance, stating, “Pretty amazing, 59.5.” The Bercy Arena crowd, including celebrities like Tom Cruise, Jessica Chastain, Greta Gerwig, Ariana Grande, and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, erupted in chants of “U-S-A” before the gymnasts entered, and the roar when Biles was introduced was deafening.
Biles executed a flawless balance beam routine, displaying aerial skills and spins with precision.
After taping her left leg from calf to foot, she delivered a dynamic floor routine, including her Biles I double layout with a half twist and her Biles II “triple-double,” consisting of two backflips with three twists.
Chellsie Memmel, the US team technical lead, remarked, “It’s incredible. What she was able to do looking like she has soreness or something in her leg is remarkable.”
Landi noted Biles was feeling better by the time she completed her day with a solid uneven bars routine, which received another ovation as she danced with teammate Jordan Chiles.
Suni Lee, who overcame two severe kidney ailments since winning all-around gold in Tokyo, was second in the all-around standings.
This sets up a historic all-around final featuring the last two gold medalists for the first time in Olympic history.
Algerian uneven bars specialist Kaylia Nemour led that apparatus and was also headed to the all-around final.
Despite the attention on Biles, who led the vault and floor exercise standings and was second in balance beam behind China’s Zhou Yaqin, she remained in contention for the uneven bars finals with two qualifying sessions remaining.
Biles had withdrawn from multiple events at the Tokyo Games due to “twisties,” a mental block affecting gymnasts.
She still earned a silver and bronze, gaining recognition for her openness about mental health struggles. After a two-year hiatus, she returned to win four world titles last year, bringing her total to 23.
At 27, Biles could become the oldest women’s all-around Olympic champion in 72 years and only the third woman to win more than one Olympic all-around title.
