Biles sticks landing in balance beam, wins Olympic bronze

TOKYO (AP) — Simone Biles stuck the landing.

The American gymnastics superstar won bronze during the equilibrium beam last connected Tuesday, a week aft she took herself retired of respective competitions to absorption connected her intelligence health.

Biles earned her seventh vocation Olympic medal — tied with Shannon Miller for the astir by an American successful gymnastics — by drilling a somewhat watered-down mentation of her accustomed regular successful beforehand of a assemblage that included IOC President Thomas Bach.

Biles, utilizing a double-pike dismount — nary twisting required — posted a people of 14.000. That was bully capable for bronze down the Chinese duo of golden medalist Guan Chenchen (14.633) and Tang Xijing (14.233).

Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee of the United States finished fifth. The 18-year-old Lee won 3 medals successful Tokyo, including metallic successful the squad last and bronze connected uneven bars.

Biles arrived connected the level astir 90 minutes earlier the contention started, wearing a red, achromatic and bluish leotard emblazoned with astir 5,000 crystals. If she was nervous, it hardly showed. She warmed up arsenic if it was conscionable different time backmost successful the gym her household owns successful the bluish Houston suburbs. Twice she hopped onto the beam to bash a run-through of her regular and she stuck her double-pike dismount to applause from the stands and the whir of dozens of cameras.

Biles arrived successful Tokyo arsenic the look of the U.S. contingent successful Japan and possibly the Games themselves. Yet the brilliance she’s summoned truthful easy for truthful agelong during her tally atop the athletics came undone aft qualifying connected July 25.

She bailed retired of her vault during the archetypal rotation of the squad finals connected July 27, past stunningly removed herself from the competition as a substance of extortion due to the fact that she was having trouble locating herself successful the air. She aboriginal described the improvement arsenic “the twisties” and subsequently pulled retired of the all-around, uneven bars, level workout and vault finals.

The determination amplified accrued attraction connected the value of intelligence wellness successful sports successful wide and among Olympians specifically. Add it to the increasing database of movements the 24-year-old Biles has become a touchstone for during her emergence to stardom.

She’s spent the past week continuing to bid and beryllium evaluated by squad doc Dr. Marcia Faustin portion doubling arsenic pb cheerleader for a U.S. women’s squad that has racked up immoderate superior hardware successful her absence.

Lee became the 5th consecutive American woman to seizure the all-around title and added a bronze connected uneven bars. MyKayla Skinner, placed into the vault last aft Biles scratched, soared to silver. On Monday, Jade Carey’s agelong travel to the Olympics ended with a victory on level workout aft Biles gave her a pep speech pursuing a nightmarish vault show successful which she tripped astatine the extremity of the runway and narrowly avoided superior injury.

Her instrumentality to contention connected beam served arsenic a fitting ending to her Olympic experience. She earned bronze connected the lawsuit successful Brazil 5 years agone acknowledgment successful portion by reaching down to drawback the 4-inch portion of wood aft she slipped. The determination outgo her golden but assured her of a 5th medal and the one, successful retrospect, she said she’s astir arrogant of.

While she hasn’t officially announced her status — she’s hinted that she mightiness privation to instrumentality astir successful immoderate manner until the 2024 Paris Games to grant coaches Laurent and Cecile Landi, who are some French — a agelong layoff awaits. She’s headlining a post-Olympic circuit done the autumn but stressed precocious she plans to enactment adjacent to the sport.

If Tuesday nighttime was her authoritative goodbye, she did it connected her terms. Just similar she has for astir of an eight-year elite vocation that pushed the boundaries of gymnastics and saw her execute the benignant of crossover occurrence typically reserved for sprinters similar Usain Bolt and swimmers similar Michael Phelps.