Dramatic fall costs Biles Olympics medal

FE Team | Published: August 05, 2024 22:43:05

US' Simone Biles falls as she competes in the artistic gymnastics women's balance beam final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on Monday — AFP

PARIS, Aug 05 (AP): No medal for Simone Biles on the balance beam this time.
The American gymnastics star slipped and fell off the apparatus at the end of her acrobatic series during the Paris Games' beam finals Monday, denying her an opportunity to add to the bronzes she won on the event at the 2016 and 2020 Games.
Wearing a blue-and-white leotard featuring over 5,000 crystals, Biles was more than halfway through her set when she couldn't quite keep her balance. The 27-year-old hopped off the beam and onto the mat while thousands inside a packed Bercy Arena - including NFL great Tom Brady - let out an audible "ohhh."
Biles received a score of 13.100, tied with U.S. teammate Sunisa Lee for fourth.There was an extended wait for her score to post. At one point, Biles rolled her eyes in seeming annoyance knowing she wasn't going to finish on the medal stand.
Alice D'Amato of Italy took the gold with a score of 14.366. Zhou Yaqin of China earned silver with a 14.100, just ahead of bronze medalist Manila Esposito of Italy. Italy, which won silver behind the U.S. in the team competition, had never medaled on beam before.
Biles finished in a tie for fifth with Lee, whose hopes for a gold on beam she's long coveted ended in the middle of her routine when she fell during the end of her acro series, just like Biles did a few minutes later.
The 21-year-old Lee will still leave Paris with three medals just months after she was bedridden while trying to navigate a pair of chronic kidney-related diseases.