Biles, Lee advance to Women's All-Around Finals

Simone Biles and Suni Lee made history Sunday night. For the first time in Women’s Gymnastics, two Olympic all-around gold medalists will compete in a final. Lee, gold medalist in Tokyo 2020, will compete against Biles, the champion in Rio de Janeiro 2016.

The energy from the crowd at Bercy Arena provided a much-needed support system as Biles competed despite what U.S. coach Cecile Landi said was an issue in her left calf that originated a couple of weeks ago.

Despite visible discomfort, the seven-time Olympic medalist delivered the same dominant performances audiences are accustomed to. Biles finished on top of the all-around by almost two points and put up the highest scores on vault, beam, and floor for team USA. Her performance was highlighted by a 15.800 for her signature Yurchenko double pike on vault. In addition to the team competition and all-around, Biles will be in contention for gold on vault, beam, and floor.

“I feel really happy for her that she got through this day,” said Chellsie Memmel, USA Gymnastics technical lead. “She competed like she was training. She comes into the gym, and she does her job. She came in and did her job at podium training, she came in and she did her job today. And that's just what she's doing.”

Lee’s competition was highlighted by her uneven bars and beam performances, where she qualified for event finals as well. The 21-year-old was competing with teammate Jordan Chiles throughout the session trying to earn a spot in the all-around final. Ending on uneven bars, Lee needed to notch a 14.800 or higher to edge out Chiles in the All-Around rankings and executed a stunning routine to put up a score of 14.866. All though Lee and Chiles finished second and third behind Biles in their subdivision, the rule limiting each country to two athletes in a final means Chiles is out of the all-around final.

“We knew it was going to be a battle going in,” said Memmel. “It really was, you know, back and forth throughout the day.  It just happened to be that today was Suni’s day. I know that they're all still going to come together and support each other. But I know it's going to sting and it’s going to take time, and that’s okay.”

The rule will keep Chiles out of the vault finals as well -- where she ranks just behind Jade Carey and Biles -- but she will get the chance to contend for a podium finish on floor thanks to an entertaining and captivating routine in the qualifying. As expected, Chiles was a constant source of encouragement as the team worked through some unexpected mishaps.

While Chiles will compete in floor finals, Carey – the reigning Olympic gold medalist on the event -- will not have a chance to defend her title after an error on her final tumbling pass that resulted in an out-of-bounds fall. The Oregon State star recovered well for the next rotation, putting together two solid vaults to solidify a spot in the vault final.

It was redemption in more ways than one for Carey who was a medal favorite on the event in Tokyo but missed the podium after tripping on her run during her first vault in the final. Carey and Biles will now get to fight for the 1-2 finish many hoped for back in Tokyo.

The lone newcomer, Hezly Rivera, competed on bars and beam for the U.S. In the first rotation, the 16-year-old had an uncharacteristic error when her foot slipped on a jump, causing her knee to make contact with the beam, resulting in a significant deduction. Rivera remained composed through the remainder of the routine and came back in the final rotation to deliver a solid lead off for the U.S. on uneven bars.

“It looked like she was nervous on beam… but then she settled in,” said Memmel. “But to do beam and have a break then to go hit that bar routine after having a shaky beam routine was amazing and I'm so proud of her.”

After a silver medal finish as a team in Tokyo, the U.S. is aiming to return to its gold medal standard after being on top of the podium in 2012 and 2016. In the team finals on Tuesday, in addition to team gold, the American women have the chance to produce 1-2 finishes on vault, beam and floor finals, plus a podium finish by Lee on uneven bars.