How a team meeting helped align golden aspirations for Biles, Lee and Chiles
On the eve of the women's gymnastics team final at Paris 2024, Jordan Chiles looked at teammates Simone Biles and Suni Lee and made her intention clear: We need to have a talk.
"I've never done that before," a beaming Chiles told reporters after Team USA clinched gold on Tuesday (30 July) night inside Bercy Arena. "It was really good; it was really needed."
What prompted that must-have convo?
"I think we were all full of nerves and we weren't communicating with each other," explained Biles, saying the pressure of the Olympics was creating a breakdown in their team chemistry. "That was the nature of the conversation: Just letting each other know that we can lean on each other because we've been there. It's really hard to be doing what we were doing, and it's easier if we can lean on each other."
Added Biles: "It was really needed honestly."
Biles, Lee and Chiles competed 11 of the 12 scores for the U.S. in the team final, with Jade Carey stepping in for vault. Sixteen-year-old Hezly Rivera did not participate in the final, though she had helped the U.S. during qualifying.
In the end? The team went golden - re-claiming their women's team title from Rio 2016 and handing the American women its third Olympic triumph in the last four Olympic Games.
"I think it just helped us, helped me at least have a better understanding" of each other, Lee added. "Just know that I can lean on them whenever I need it. And it helped me a lot."
A golden team meeting, it turns out.
"I'm very proud that we were able to have that conversation," Chiles concluded.