Olympics fans hail Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles for their ‘beautiful’ gesture towards Brazilian rival Rebeca Andrade on the podium

Olympic fans cheered Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles on Monday as the American duo bowed to Rebeca Andrade after the Brazilian won gold on the floor in Paris.

Andrade became the first gymnast to defeat the unbeatable Biles in a floor final at a major international competition, scoring 14.166 to finish just ahead of Biles on 14.133.

Biles won silver in the floor final on Monday — her fourth medal in Paris and her 11th Olympic medal overall — after a routine that included several costly steps out of bounds.

Jordan Chiles, a good friend and teammate of Biles, won bronze and they decided to honor Andrade on the podium.

As the Brazilian raised her arms in celebration of her victory, Biles and Chiles both knelt before her.

Biles talked about their decision to do it, saying that Chiles asked, “Should we bow down to her?”

Biles responded, “Absolutely. It was just the right thing to do.”

The gesture caused a stir on social media, with one fan describing it as “the true spirit of the Olympics”.

Another wrote: ‘Beautiful. It’s great to see Rebeca Andrade getting her props!.

A third posted: ‘Respect! This is what makes sports so beautiful. Congratulations.’

“The humility of Biles who wanted to win a gold medal after the disappointment of the previous event is admirable. Congratulations Rebeca,” another fan commented.

“A photo that gives enough insight into the true spirit of the Olympic Games,” added another.

The 27-year-old Biles, considered the best in the history of the sport, was not at her best during a performance set to music by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

She goes home with team gold medals, the all-around and vault finals and a surprising silver medal in her most important event.

“I couldn’t be more proud of how I did,” Biles said. “I’m 27 years old and I’m walking away from these Games with four medals to add to my collection. I’m not mad about it.”

Biles’ total medal wins (seven gold, two silver and two bronze) equals the second-most medals by a female gymnast in Olympic history, Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia.

Earlier on Monday, she missed the chance to win her fifth medal on the Paris track when she fell in the beam final and finished fifth.

Although she can make it look easy at times, it isn’t. She fell to the mat during her floor warm-up and her transverse left calf, which she twisted during qualifying last week, was re-wrapped before she started the competition.

Chiles, the last competitor of the day, initially received a 13.666 from the jury.

After some delay, her total was increased by 0.1 when she submitted a survey on the difficulty component of her score, pushing Chiles past Romanians Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea into third place.

Biles won her silver medal on floor about an hour after a beam final in which half of the eight competing women fell off the floor midway through their routine after losing their balance.

Biles included. She lost her balance at the end of her acro series and was awarded a score of 13.100 to finish fifth, tied with teammate Sunisa Lee.

Like Biles, Lee saw her hopes of gold dashed halfway through her routine when she fell during the same part of her routine as Biles.

Afterwards, the two Olympic champions and good friends, who together have won no fewer than 17 Olympic medals, complained about the strange atmosphere in the strangely silent arena.

“It adds to the stress, just because it’s like, yeah, you’re the only one up there,” said Lee, who is taking some time off before making a decision about her future. “So I felt the pressure.”

Alice D’Amato of Italy won the gold on the beam with a score of 14.366. Zhou Yaqin of China won the silver with a score of 14.100, just ahead of bronze medalist Manila Esposito of Italy.