Paris 2024 Olympics: Simone Biles looks sharp and relaxed in practice
U.S. gymnast Simone Biles, the most decorated man or woman her sport has ever seen, has made it no secret that she wants redemption at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
"This is definitely our redemption tour," said Biles at the recent U.S. Olympic trials. "I feel like we all have more to give... I feel like we have a lot of weight on our shoulders to go out there and prove that we're better athletes, we're more mature, we're smarter, we're more consistent."
Tuesday (23 July) in the French capital, Biles and Team USA took one more step toward showing the world that and reclaiming the Olympic team title, as she worked through a confident and sharp practice session.
The U.S. team arrived nearly 30 minutes prior to the start of their workout, stretching, chatting and laughing in their blue and black warm-up jackets and black tights as they waited to begin their official practice.
When noon hit, the focus ramped up but there were still moments of levity especially from Biles who was often seen laughing with teammates Jordan Chiles or Jade Carey. At one point during her balance beam workout, Biles even stopped on the apparatus to watch the uneven bars of Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour, the reigning world silver medallist on the event and a favourite for multiple medals in Paris.
"Come on!" Biles could be heard cheering as Nemour performed.
Across the four events, Biles looked extremely solid with a very small issue on her opening sequence in her balance beam routine the only area of any concern.
Her floor exercise, where she is a six-time world champion and the Rio 2016 gold medallist, was the highlight of the session. As her Taylor Swift music blared inside the Le Bourget Exhibition Centre training hall, Biles matched the grandeur of the music with a spectacular triple-twisting double back flip.
Biles and the U.S. women's first competition in Paris is set for Sunday (28 July).
Read below for full training notes on all of Team USA.
U.S. women's gymnastics practice notes, Tuesday (23 July)
Balance Beam
- Chiles looked confident on the apparatus, hitting her first routine of the session. She was paying special attention to her running front flip mount, executing it several times throughout.
- Like Chiles, Biles gave extra focus to her mount sequence which has been switch leap onto the beam, switch half, back pike for the last two seasons, but she struggled to connect it properly. Otherwise, it was smooth sailing for the reigning world champ on the event including a stuck full-twisting double tuck dismount.
- Tokyo 2020 all-around winner Suni Lee had misses in her first two full routines missing first her layout step out mount and then a switch ring leap. Her third attempted routine was a clean effort.
- Newcomer Hezly Rivera did several solid routines on the event, as did Carey.
Floor exercise
- Chiles was the first to perform a full routine, tumbling a layout full-out, a front full to full-in and a double layout.
- Biles was next up, executing her massive tumbling including a triple-double and front through to double-double. She closed her routine with a Biles I (double layout half out) to stag jump and double layout with one step backward.
- During Carey's routine, Biles was enthusiastically encouraging her teammate, moving between corners to cheer her on. Her tumbling passes were slightly less difficult than what she showed at the U.S. trials: a full-twisting double layout, double layout, double-double, and a front through to double tuck.
- Lee came up short on her final tumbling pass, a double tuck, in her full routine.
- Rivera was focused on her opening tumbling pass - a full-twisting double layout - performing it four or more times, far more than any of her teammates did any line. In her full routine, coach Valeri Liukin stood in for that pass along with her double layout second line.
Vault
- Once again, Chiles was the first to go. She boomed several clean double-twisting Yurchenko vaults.
- There was no Yurchenko double pike for Biles in Tuesday's practice, though that isn't indicative of much as she's unlikely to perform the very taxing vault in every workout. Instead, she focused on her Cheng vault (round off onto the board, half turn onto the table, front layout with one-and-a-half twists off) with two excellent efforts.
- Lee and Rivera both did Yurchenko double twists with Rivera rolling one to her back and Lee balking on one early in the session. Both ended with good efforts on the vault.
- For Carey, the focus was, like Biles, on her Cheng.
Uneven Bars
- Rivera was first to do a full routine on the bars. Throughout the workout, she did several, excellent complete exercises. The Olympic debutant worked her dismount - a full-twisting double back - several times after bringing one close to the bars and falling early in the session.
- Chiles was clean through her first attempted routine, but in her second caught a Pak salto too close and was forced to free hip out of it. She fought through to the end but would have definitely incurred several tenths of deductions in competition. Later, Chiles worked the sequence again without issue.
- With ease, Biles executed two routines, ending with a full-twisting double tuck dismount. She worked her double-double dismount in isolation later.
- Carey performed two hit clean routines.
- Last to perform a full routine was Lee, who struggled with her full-twisting Pak salto (Bhardwaj), hitting her feet on the ground in her first attempted routine and then missing the bar all together in her second. She was successful with a full routine on her third try. Afterward, she worked the Bhardwaj multiple times by itself.