Eight Years Later, Simone Biles Wins Second Gold in Women’s All-Around Final; Suni Lee Secures Bronze

PARIS — Simone Biles’ place in gymnastics history reached new heights Thursday night. She took home a second gold medal in the women’s all-around final with a score of 59.131, narrowly beating Rebeca Andrade of Brazil eight years after earning her first. Biles became the third female gymnast to win two Olympic all-around titles and the first to ever do so in non-consecutive Games.

At the end of an historic night, Biles and Suni Lee, the gold medal winner three years ago at Tokyo, raced on to the floor in celebration. Lee secured the bronze medal, finishing with an overall score of 56.465. This is the third time the U.S. has put two gymnasts on the podium in the women’s all-around, the first since 2016 when Biles and Aly Raisman took home gold and silver.

The last gymnast to win two Olympic all-around finals was Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia in 1964 and 1968. At the age of 27, Biles in now the oldest woman to become a champion since 30-year-old Maria Gorokhovskaya of the Soviet Union won in 1952.

The unprecedented presence of two past all-around gold medalists competing in the same all-around final at the Olympics made this final historic before Lee and Biles even took the floor. As with the women’s team final, Bercy Arena was packed and American flags could be seen in almost every section of the crowd. Big names and other Team USA athletes came to show their support, including men’s basketball stars Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.

“You don’t see crossover in sports that much unless it’s the Olympics,” said Biles on the other athletes in attendance. “It’s amazing that we have that support from them and that gymnastics is on such a big stage during the Olympics because it truly shows how much hard work we put in.”

Many fans were anxious to see Lee return to the all-around competition as the defending gold medalist. She narrowly edged out her teammate, Jordan Chiles, to secure a spot in the final. Ranked third coming into Thursday’s competition, she delivered a solid vault to begin her meet, scoring a 13.933 to rank in seventh. Lee climbed the ranks thanks to stunning bar and beam routines, putting up scores of 14.866 and 14.000.

Going into floor, the final rotation, the 21-year-old found herself tied for fourth with Algeria’s Kalyia Nemour and just 0.034 behind Italy’s Alice D’Amato, who ranked third. Nemour and D’Amato both competed before it was Lee’s turn to take the floor, leaving the audience anxiously waiting to see if she could find herself back on the podium. Lee delivered exactly what was needed, executing a beautiful routine in front of a crowd that celebrated her performance with roaring praise. She appeared shocked when her score of 13.666 was submitted and the scoreboard showed a bronze medal finish was reality.

“I was telling everyone today I really didn't think that I would even get on the podium,” said Lee. “I just told myself not to put any pressure on myself because I didn't want to think about the last Olympics or proving anything to anybody.

"I wanted to just prove to myself that I could do it because I didn't think that I could, it’s taken a lot. It’s great to be out there and to do it the right way this time.”

Biles started off strong on vault, notching a 15.766. Unlike the team final, she opted to compete her Yurchenko double pike knowing Andrade, who qualified in second, could put up a big vault and would try to stay right on her heels all night.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Biles said of her decision. “But I just knew how phenomenal of an athlete she is. Each event we’re similar in scores. I was like, okay, I think I have to bring out the big guns this time.”

Biles sat on top of the leader board as she moved from vault to bars. However, she had some trouble on one of her release moves, forcing her to break the rhythm of her routine to adjust. As a result, her score of 13.733 was much lower than what she put up in qualifying. The small slip-up moved her down to third place after the second rotation.

“I was probably praying to every single God out there trying to refocus and recenter myself,” said Biles. “That’s not the bars that I've been training. Out of all of the events, bars is the one that I haven't messed up on once the whole entire training here or back in Houston. I was just refocusing and making sure that as soon as we got to beam… I can just recenter myself and finish the rest of the competition because it's not over until it's over.”

Biles’ approach appeared to have worked as she executed a solid beam routine that earned her a score of 14.566. While her performance was enough to put her back into first place, Andrade was only 0.166 behind Biles, a much closer margin than the 23-time world champion is accustomed to.

“I’ve never had an athlete that close,” said Biles. “It definitely put me on my toes, and it brought out the best athlete in myself. I’m excited and proud to compete with her but… I was getting uncomfortable.”

Any evidence of nerves was undetectable when Biles took to floor as the final competitor of the night, performing the best floor routine she’s done so far in Paris to score a 15.066. Andrade finished over a point behind. Biles’ final salute was met with a standing ovation that endured until she returned to the floor waving the American flag after results had been finalized. The 27-year-old had been outspoken about her fight to return to the top after her emotional withdrawal from competition in Tokyo. She now reclaims her title of all-around Olympic Champion eight years after getting gold in Rio.

“Three years ago, I never thought I'd step foot on the gymnastics floor again just because of everything that had happened,” said Biles. “I’m super proud of my performance tonight and the fight that I've had for the last three years mentally and physically. To get back to competing on a world stage, at the Olympic Games, is an amazing experience. I couldn't be prouder.”

Hanna Barton is writing for Team USA as a graduate student in the Sports Capital Journalism Program at Indiana University Indianapolis.