"None of us liked it" - Simone Biles opens up on disappointing balance beam final at the Paris Olympics

Simone Biles competed in the finals of the balance beam at the 2024 Paris Olympics after qualifying in second position for the event. The American gymnast finished fifth, missing out on the podium.

Biles spoke about the environment in the Bercy Arena in an interview after the event.

The balance beam was the only event in which Biles failed to make it to the podium in her campaign at this year's Games. She revealed that she was trying to remain focused for the event as it is the most stressful for her. She felt awkward while competing as there was no music or sound and the crowd was making it difficult for the gymnasts to stay 'in the zone,' as per the Olympian.

"Beam final is always the most stressful. But usually, we have, like, music or background noise, whatever that may be. Honestly, we do better in environments when there's noise going on because it feels most like practice. So, today, you could hear some of the Android ringtones going off, the photo clickers, whatever that was," Simone Biles said.

"You're trying to stay in your zone, and then people start cheering, and then the shushing gets louder. So, really, they (the people shushing) should be shushed because they're louder than them... it was really weird and awkward, and we've asked several times if we could have some music or some background noise. So, I am not really sure what happened there, but yeah, not our favorite. None of us liked it. Yeah, it was an odd beam final," she added.

This year, Biles marched on to her third consecutive Olympic campaign in Paris.

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Simone Biles' campaign at the 2024 Paris Olympics

After withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics due to mental health concerns, Simone Biles returned to the quadrennial games after working on both the physical as well as the mental aspect of the sport, which fans have termed her 'redemption.'

Simone Biles during the Artistic Gymnastics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 10 - Source: Getty

The American won the gold medal in the all-around team event, the vault and the individual all-around. She cliched the silver medal in the floor routine after losing the top spot to rival Rebeca Andrade.

Biles concluded her Paris Olympics campaign with four medals, taking her overall Olympic medal count to 11 and etching her name in the record books as the most decorated gymnast of all time.