Simone Biles, of the United States, competes on the floor exercise during a women's artistic gymnastics qualification round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 28, in Paris, France.Charlie Riedel/The Associated Press
For a nerve-racking moment, it looked as though Simone Biles’s triumphant return to Olympic competition was over before it began.
After delivering a stunning beam routine at Bercy Arena on Sunday in the women’s gymnastics qualifying event, Biles appeared to tweak her left lower calf muscle during the floor warm-up.
Team USA’s medical staff taped up her leg and ankle, but Biles could still be seen gently limping and hopping – even briefly crawling off the vault runway. (Cécile Landi, one of Biles’s coaches, later told reporters it was an injury Biles felt a couple of weeks ago.)
But to those who worried about a repeat of the Tokyo Games, when Biles was forced to withdraw during a vault routine after suffering a case of the “twisties” – a phenomenon in which an athlete loses their sense of where they are in the air – the GOAT revealed she had other plans.
Biles delivered a powerful but not-quite-perfect floor routine, which still earned the high score of the night. She then followed it up with an electrifying “Biles II” vault that garnered an astronomical 15.8 score. This double pike manoeuvre is the sport’s most difficult vault and it’s named after her, as Biles is the only woman to have performed it in international competition.
The 27-year-old, who already has five eponymous skills, was hoping to add a sixth at this Games, but when the time came during her uneven-bars portion, Biles played it safe.
Still, the international crowd jumped to its feet as one of the most accomplished athletes in the world completed her Olympic return.
Biles, who is a four-time Olympic gold medalist – and also holds 23 world titles – comfortably led the women’s group with a total score of 59.566. She will advance to the all-around competition, and in three of the four apparatuses; she just missed the uneven bars qualifier.
Biles has her ankle taped after competing on the uneven bars during a women's artistic gymnastics qualification round at Bercy Arena.Charlie Riedel/The Associated Press
Meanwhile, Team Canada achieved one of its major Olympic goals in qualifying for the team event, which will be held on Tuesday, after placing sixth with a score of 161.563. The Canadian women’s team hasn’t competed in the team final in 12 years.
The United States finished first with 172.296, more than five points ahead of second-place Italy.
Team veteran Ellie Black will be advancing to the individual all-around competition with her teammate Ava Stewart, 18, of Bowmanville, Ont. Black also qualified to advance in the vault apparatus alongside Shallon Olsen, a 24-year-old from Surrey, B.C.
This is Black’s fourth Games and with that experience, the 28-year-old Halifax native has been acting as a mentor to her younger teammates, two of whom – Cassie Lee of Toronto and Aurélie Tran of Repentigny, Que. – are making their Olympic debut.
“Before they went out today, though, they had a little moment in the back room and I could literally see the sparkle in their eyes about being at the Olympic Games. That was heartwarming to me because that’s what it’s all about,” Black said. “It’s about being here, reaching that goal, and there are only five girls in Canada who get to do that.”
It was a packed house at Bercy Arena on Sunday, with celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg and Tom Cruise showing up to cheer on Biles.
Biles competes on the uneven bars during a women's artistic gymnastics qualification round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 28, in Paris, France.Abbie Parr/The Associated Press
Even the International Olympic Committee recognized that Sunday was all about Simone Biles, who is arguably this Games’ biggest star. At the daily media briefing, officials acknowledged that the day marked her return and they wished her well – a fitting moment given that the bulk of the IOC’s presentation centred on its efforts to properly elevate women and women’s sport.
Paris has styled itself as the first Olympic Games to achieve parity between men and women.
“Gender equality has been mainstreamed throughout everything,” said Marie Sallois, who runs the IOC’s sustainability strategy.
From the symbolic moments – such as having two flag bearers, a man and woman, light the cauldron – to the hard numbers, officials said there is gender parity among volunteers, Games’ staff and executives, and the number of competitive spots allocated for male and female athletes. (The IOC said it can’t yet give the exact breakdown of men to women athletes, because of “variables in the qualification systems” with different federations and national Olympic committees.)
Even the schedule has been created through a gender lens. In the past, in a team sport final, the women’s team has gone first, while the men get the finale, said Yiannis Exarchos, the Olympic executive who deals with broadcasting rights. At the Paris Games, organizers will be mixing it up.
It’s a policy that is long overdue, he said, and it comes at a time when some of the biggest storylines in sport centre on women athletes.
Latori, Nyla and Adrian Easterling travelled to Paris from Texas to cheer on Simone Biles and the rest of Team USA.Robyn Doolittle/The Globe and Mail
For 11-year-old Nyla Easterling, who came to Paris from Texas with her parents Adrian and Latori to cheer on Team USA, there are no bigger stars than Biles and her teammates.
“I’m a Level 7 gymnast and I love to watch Simone and [American gymnast] Jordan Chiles,” she said.
Easterling and her parents were bedecked in matching custom T-shirts that had been emblazoned with images of Team USA, with Biles, of course, positioned front and centre.