Simone Biles won her sixth Olympic gold medal and her second at the Paris Games on Thursday, beating Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade to win the women’s all-around final for the second time.
The 27-year-old gymnast returned to the top of the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships eight years after winning her first Olympic all-around title in Rio, becoming only the third woman in history to win the sport’s most prestigious title more than once, after Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union (1956 and 1960) and Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia (1964 and 1968).
A once-in-a-lifetime athlete who makes the unthinkable look elemental and the extraordinary seem effortless, Biles led the field of 24 gymnasts with 59.131 points. Andrade finished nearly two points behind to equal her silver medal from Tokyo, while Biles’ U.S. teammate Suni Lee, the reigning Olympic all-around champion who has battled multiple kidney ailments for the past two years, took bronze.
Biles also became the oldest women’s all-around Olympic champion since Maria Gorokhovskaya of the Soviet Union, who won gold in 1952 at age 30. She is the sixth consecutive American woman to win the title, following Sunisa Lee (2021), herself (2016), Gabby Douglas (2012), Nastia Liukin (2008) and Carly Patterson (2004).
The historic gold marked Biles’ 39th career medal between the Olympics and world championships, extending her record as the most decorated gymnast in history. Since winning her first national title in 2013, she has won every all-around event in every competition she has competed in.
Although it was the first all-around final to feature multiple former Olympic champions Biles and Lee, Thursday’s event was seen primarily as a showdown between Biles and Andrade, the runner-up at last year’s world championships. He trailed Biles by just 0.366 in Tuesday’s four-event team final.
Biles began her afternoon on the vault, leaping from the platform and launching a towering Yurchenko double pike, the most difficult vault currently performed by a female gymnast. Biles had opted not to attempt it in Tuesday’s team final. She earned a score of 15.766 despite taking a few steps back on landing, easily securing first place and a 0.666 lead over Andrade, who confidently drilled her Cheng. The battle was on.
Next up was the uneven bars, traditionally Biles’ weakest discipline. Andrade went into the rotation first and hit a beautiful routine for 14.666, an improvement on her qualifying score. Biles came in second but made a significant error, going too high on her Pak salto transition to the low bars after her pike Tkatchev, then bending her knees to avoid touching the floor, her 4ft 8in frame likely saving her from an even more costly deduction.
Biles’ score of 13.733, which may have been even lower, provided a laugh among the crowd when it appeared on the screen as the American dropped to second place, 0.267 points behind Andrade after two rotations – and then to third after Algerian beam specialist Kaylia Nemour fired up the crowd with a patient, elegant set for a score of 15.533.
For years, the sport’s biggest events have been more coronations than competitions for the American star. But on Thursday, the greatest gymnast of all time was pushed like she’s rarely seen before.
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Biles led the third rotation on beam, attacking a routine fraught with difficulty under extraordinary pressure and delivering the gut-check performance of a great champion. Her score of 14.566 set the tone for a group of all-time leaders, drawing a standing ovation from the flag-waving American fans who filled the arena. Afterward, Biles beamed, clapping and blowing kisses to the crowd, the look of frustration she had displayed after her bars routine a distant memory.
But Andrade answered the call and hit a clean beam routine, minus a few balance checks, to close out the group. Her score of 14.133 put her within .166 of Biles going into the final rotation. The Olympic all-around gold would be decided on the floor.
Andrade, who performed second to last, scored 14.033, setting the American’s record for gold at 13.867. And there stood Biles, having ascended the carpeted stairs to the podium, the thousands of Swarovski crystals that dotted her blue tights glittering in the spotlight that was hers alone, savoring the moment before launching into an impeccable routine. Grinning from ear to ear after her first tumbling pass, Biles gained momentum and panache with every stride across the floor amid roars from the crowd.
Biles celebrated her victory in front of a lively crowd of celebrities, including American basketball stars Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
The margin was the narrowest in a major international gymnastics event since Biles won the third of her six world championships in 2015. But in the end, it was enough.