Simone Biles' floor routine at the Paris Olympics was nearly perfect, wowing fans all over again. The gymnast was the last American to take to the mat for the fourth rotation in the team finals, and walked away with a score of 14.666, helping USA storm to gold. Team USA ended on a total score of 171.296, nearly six points ahead of second-placed Italy on 165.494.
Building on the momentum from a strong qualifying, Biles got her campaign in the team finals off to a dream start. Aiming to reclaim the title that USA lost in 2020 and exorcise her Tokyo demons, the gymnast looked at the top of her game on Tuesday, July 31 at the Bercy Arena.
Simone Biles’ stunning floor routine, set to the tune of pop star Taylor Swift’s ‘Are you ready for it’, got the crowd at the Bercy Arena standing and cheering.
On her first pass, the American went ever so slightly out of bounds but made a quick comeback to nail her second aerial. Her third pass saw another big step out of bounds, but a well-executed final pass combined with a high difficulty gave the American an impressive score of 14.666.
Watch a video of Biles’ Paris Olympics floor routine below:
Simone Biles and Co. redeem themselves at the Paris Olympics after Tokyo heartbreak
For Simone Biles and teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera, this gold medal in the team event has been a long time coming. Four years ago, this same team, sans Rivera, stepped into the Tokyo Olympics as the two-time defending champions, but were forced to settle for a silver after Biles pulled out of the competition due to mental health issues.
Now, Biles and Co. have completed what they called their ‘redemption tour’ reclaiming the gold they lost in Tokyo. The American gymnasts got off to a promising start from their very first rotation, competing on the vault where the 26-year-old posted a 14.900, and her teammates Chiles and Carey scored a 14.400 and 14.800 respectively.
From there, the team moved on to the bars and beam, where Suni Lee was the standout performer with her scores of 14.566 and 14.600. By the time the team reached their final rotation, the gold looked closer than ever, and Simone Biles’ 14.666 was more than enough to seal the deal.