Sports
Simone Biles Won Another Olympic Medal In Her Final 2024 Event
It’s her fourth and final win of the Paris Games.
The GOAT ended her 2024 Olympics run with another notch on her belt. On Aug. 5, Simone Biles took home the silver medal in the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise final, marking her fourth and final medal of the Paris Games.
Biles started her Olympics journey strong by leading Team USA — aka the “Golden Girls” — to a gold medal in the team final, making her the most decorated Olympic gymnast in U.S. history. She went on to win gold in the all-around and vault finals, extending her reign. Her silver finish marks Biles’ 11th Olympic medal across her gymnastics career, seven of which are gold.
During the competition, Biles scored a 14.133 after stepping out of bounds twice but managing to stick the landing on one of her signature skills, the Biles I. This was the first time she had not won gold in a floor exercise final at the Olympics. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who’s long been considered Biles’ closest competitor, narrowly came in first with a score of 14.166.
Biles’ silver medal should be considered a rebound after she and her USA teammate Suni Lee didn’t medal in the balance beam final earlier in the day, placing fifth and sixth, respectively. It was an unexpected finish for Biles, who previously won bronze in the beam final at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Games, although many other gymnasts also had trouble throughout the competition.
No matter what happened in the day’s events, the 2024 Olympics were a huge personal and athletic victory for Biles, who established her reputation as a GOAT at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She entered the delayed 2020 Games in Tokyo, Japan as a favorite to win, but had to pull out of several events after experiencing “the twisties,” leading her to take a break from gymnastics.
At 27 years old, Biles entered the 2024 Games as the oldest U.S. gymnast to compete at the Olympics since 1952 and is part of the oldest U.S. women’s gymnastics team ever. This sparked speculation that Paris could mark her final Olympics. However, she told USA Today on Aug. 3 to “never say never,” leaving open the possibility of competing at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
“The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know, but I am getting really old,” she said, laughing. But for now, she doesn’t want to be asked about it anymore, writing on X, “You guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics.”
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