Paris 2024 Gymnastics: Rebeca Andrade captures floor exercise gold ahead of Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles
If this was a finale, Rebeca Andrade went out in style.
The most decorated Brazilian athlete at the Olympic Games added a gold medal Monday afternoon (5 August), claiming the women's floor title at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 .
It's a second Olympic gold for Andrade, the Tokyo 2020 vaulting champion. She has six total medals in her three Olympic appearances. Andrade told media earlier this week that Paris could be her career floor finale.
"I am very happy and proud about what I did," she said. "We came here every day to compete and perform (well). Gymnastics is not an easy sport, it requires a lot from our body and mind.
"I was confident I was able to manage all of the pressure and I worked with my coach in order to achieve what we've done."
Andrade's 14.166 was just ahead of Simone Biles (14.133).
Biles' American teammate Jordan Chiles was third, scoring a 13.766 after a scoring inquiry lifted her from fifth to the podium.
It's the 11th Olympic medal for Biles, extending her record as the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast.
The Brazilian star tumbled a front layout full to full-in and a full-twisting double layout to open. She closed with a controlled double pike.
Andrade took her time coming off the podium, savouring the appreciation from the crowd. When the final scores flashed inside Bercy Arena, the 25-year-old artistic gymnastics star seemed stunned during an embrace with coach.
In the warm-up, Biles looked cautious.
She has been dealing with a strained calf injury throughout the Games and struggled through her signature triple-double (Biles II) in the moments before she competed.
But in competition, that tumbling pass gave her no trouble. Instead, Biles flew out of bounds with both feet on her second and fourth tumbling passes, incurring a .600 total neutral deduction.
"Obviously wasn't my best performances, but at the end of the day, whoever medaled, medaled and that's what's so exciting because you just never know with gymnastics," said Biles afterward. "So I'm not very upset or anything about my performance at the Olympics. I'm actually very happy, proud and even more excited about it."
Chiles' score was originally 13.666 but coaches Laurent and Cecile Landi filed an inquiry. It was accepting, raising her difficulty score by .1 and giving her the bronze medal.
"I didn't even realize my coaches put in an inquiry, and I was like, 'Okay, yeah. Like, let's see... it can vary,'" explained Chiles. "So when it came through, I was very proud of myself. It was my first event final and my first event medal. This is crazy."