Simone Biles triumphs in gymnastics | The queen is back

(Paris) On the other apparatus, all the gymnasts had finished their routine. There was only one performance left. The one that would seal the outcome of this Olympic all-around competition. The one that everyone was waiting for.

The Arena Bercy fell silent. Simone Biles stepped forward to begin her floor exercise. On her ultimate apparatus, she was impeccable. Everyone stared at the giant screen. Would the American star manage to defeat her biggest rival, the Brazilian Rebeca Andrade?

The score appeared: 15.066.

As if they were one body, the spectators stood up as one. They raised their arms, applauded, shouted, took out their American flags. They thought they were in the United States. The moment was grandiose, nothing less.

Biles, for her part, was flashing her best smile. The smile of a gymnast winning her second gold medal in three days, after the one she won with the American team in the team competition. The smile of an athlete who has conquered her demons. The smile of a legend liberated.

“A few years ago, I didn’t think I would ever set foot on a gymnastics floor again, just because of everything that had happened,” she said in front of at least a hundred journalists at a press conference. “But with the help of Cécile [Canqueteau-Landi, son entraîneuse]I got back into the gym and worked really hard mentally and physically.”

“Even this morning, at 7 a.m., I saw my therapist despite the time difference,” continued the gold medalist. […] I made sure I was mentally prepared.”

When she met the media, nearly an hour after her triumph, Biles had a chain around her neck with a goat pendant attached. “Goat” as in goatin English, whose letters form the acronym Greatest of All Time (best of all time).

“It’s kind of like an ode,” she said with a smile. “Some people love it, some people hate it. It’s the best of both worlds. I was like, ‘If this goes well, I’m going to wear the pendant. I know people are going to go crazy.’”

“At the end of the day, it’s crazy that I’m in the conversation as the greatest athlete of all time because I still think I’m just Simone Biles from Spring, Texas, who likes to do flips.”

More stressed than ever

Biles didn’t get this Olympic title all baked into her mouth. Nothing was a given. Many probably shuddered when the American made a major mistake on her second apparatus, the uneven bars – she needed an extra boost. At the end of the second rotation of four, Rebeca Andrade was in first place, followed by Algeria’s Kayla Nemour and Biles.

The American star needed a moment to “refocus.” “Of all the devices, I think the only one I didn’t miss here or in Houston [son lieu d’entraînement]these are the bars. […] I was a little disappointed with my performance on bars. That’s not how I usually swing. I’m not the best on bars, but I can swing like a rock!”

Never in her career, marked by 23 world titles and now nine Olympic medals, has Biles felt as threatened by an opponent as by Andrade. The Brazilian, who was also strongly encouraged by the crowd, delivered the competition that everyone expected.

“I don’t want to compete with Rebeca anymore. She’s way too close!” Biles laughed. “I’ve never had an opponent that close, so it definitely put me on the defensive and brought out the best athlete in me. I’m excited to compete with her, but it was a little more uncomfortable. I was nervous!”

Alongside her, her teammate Sunisa Lee, a bronze medallist, exclaimed: “I’ve never seen you so stressed!”

“I knew what a phenomenal athlete she is,” Biles added. “Every apparatus, our scores were similar. I was like, ‘OK, I think I need to flex my muscles this time.’ But overall, I’m super proud of my performance today and the fight I’ve put in over the last three years, mentally and physically, just to get back to competing on the international stage, at the Olympics.”

“I’m really proud of myself”

Clearly, it was the perfect time for Biles to bring back to herself, and everyone listening, everything she’s been through in the past few years since she pulled out of the Tokyo Games in order to preserve her mental health.

“I went to therapy religiously every Thursday, and now I do it whenever I need it, when I’m in big competitions,” she said. “I’m really proud of myself for putting in the work and never giving up because I thought I would never compete on the world stage again.”

Except she is. She’s back. And she could add four more medals to her tally.