Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Simone Biles scrapes into uneven bars final but leads individual scoring as USA trail ROC
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Updated 30/07/2021 at 17:17 GMT
The Texan's overall score of 57.131 put her in pole position on the individual standings, but Biles cut a frustrated figure at multiple points following performances. The most successful US gymnast in history, the Texan will look to work on the rough landings that dotted her displays ahead of the finals.
'Oh! Out of character!' - Biles stumbles out of bounds in floor routine
Simone Biles scraped into the uneven bars and balance beam finals after a relatively shaky opening day in Tokyo.
It was synonymous of an unusually sub-par day for the United States gymnastics team in general, as they failed to record the highest score of the day for the first time at a World Championships or Olympics since 2010.
With a score of 170.562, the typically dominant Team USA were forced to settle for second behind the Russian Olympic Committee’s (ROC) 171.629.
Biles topped the all-around individual standings despite being plagued by rocky landings, an outcome reflective of the incredibly high standards the American has set throughout her career.
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Biles 'means business' in tough beam routine in Tokyo
The 24-year-old dazzled in Rio in 2016, taking home four gold medals to supplement her 19 World Championship victories.
That quadruple Games triumph, in the individual all-around, the vault, the floor exercise, and the team event, set a US record for most women’s gymnastics golds.
She is the most decorated American of all time but the superstar’s reign of dominance could soon be coming to an end, with Biles hinting that she could walk away following the Paris Games in 2024.
The top twenty-four scorers on the all-around event qualify for the finals, with Brazil's Rebeca Andrade and United States’ Sunisa Lee trailing Biles in second and third.
Team GB’s 16-year-old twin sister duo Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova will also be in the running, qualifying through in 9th and 12th respectively.
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Simone Biles: The queen of modern Gymnastics
Floor – 14.133
Biles made an uncharacteristically shaky start on the floor exercise.
The Texan-born star announced herself in Tokyo by performing both signature moves she made her own in Rio, ‘The Biles’ and ‘The Biles II’.
The former is a double layout with a half twist, while ‘The Biles II’ involves a triple-double somersault.
Biles nailed both moves to near perfection before a huge bounce on her final on her third pass took her off the mat and out of bounds.
Despite her erroneous landing, judges accounted for the difficulty of the routine to award her a score of 14.133.
Vault – 14.966 and 15.183
The off-key start continued for Biles in her first vault, with the American again knocked back by a loose landing.
A big step at the end of the routine saw her end slightly off the mat again, prompting a frustrated reaction and an eye-roll before the judges awarded her 14.966.
Biles finally got into her groove on her second attempt however, sticking a two and a half twist to customary perfection to score 15.183.
At the time this was the best score in the vault and put the US in a strong position with Jade Carey following up in second.
Uneven bars - 14.566
Overrotating on the dismount, Biles' score of 14.566 put her in the weakest position with regards to individual event qualifying and almost led her to miss out. She finished 10th, but qualified due to ROC having four athletes in the top 10.
Her lowest score in qualifying at the Rio Games in 2016, many regard the bars to be the 24-year-old's weakest individual event.
Balance beam – 14.066
A disappointing end to a disappointing day, relatively speaking for an athlete with over 30 Olympic and World Championship medals.
Biles can take heart from what was a generally strong beam performance in what is, by her own assessment, one of her weaker events.
Once again it was the landing that proved her undoing, as a stumble coming down from a double back somersault sabotaged her score.
Biles’ reaction to the 14.066 score announcement told viewers everything they needed to know about what she thought of her performance.
Arms folded, the four-time Games champion blew out her cheeks and scowled, pacing around with disappointment etched on her face.
It is a testament to the Texan’s supremacy that she can have an off-day and still be the highest scorer on a typically dominant US team.
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