The final image of Simone Biles at Olympics was a symbol of joy
Wednesday, 7 August 2024
PARIS, Aug 06 (AP): Simone Biles cast a knowing glance across the awards podium toward Jordan Chiles.
The longtime friends and U.S. gymnastics teammates knew they needed to find a way to honor Brazilian star Rebeca Andrade. They just weren't sure how.
What they came up with after Andrade's gold medal on floor exercise at the end of 10 days inside Bercy Arena symbolized the state of their sport at the 2024 Games.
Where it is. And hopefully where it's going.
Biles, the unequivocal Greatest of All Time, and Chiles, a three-time Olympic medalist whose journey back to the Games was a testament to talent and grit, dropped down to one knee. It was a show of respect to Andrade, whose excellence is symbolic of a sport that is getting more diverse, more inclusive and perhaps more positive as it goes.
"It was just the right thing to do," Biles said about a moment that soon went viral, with even the Louvre itself suggesting it might be worthy enough for a spot somewhere in the vicinity of the Mona Lisa.
Fitting for an Olympics that offered masterpieces everywhere you looked.
Biles and the American women finished off their "Redemption Tour" by reclaiming gold in the team final. Biles exorcised whatever inner doubt remained from the Tokyo Games - and shut up the haters in the process - by winning a second all-around title eight years after her first.
Andrade led Brazil to its first Olympic team medal (a bronze), then added three more in the individual competition, finishing runner-up to Biles in the all-around and vault before becoming the first woman in memory to edge Biles in a floor exercise final.
The Italian women won their first team medal in nearly a century. Japan put together a stirring rally on high bar in the last rotation to slip by rival China for gold. The U.S. men and "Pommel Horse Guy" Stephen Nedoroscik returned to the Olympic podium for the first time in 16 years. Carlos Yulo of the Philippines tripled his country's Summer Olympic all-time gold medal count in a mere 24 hours.