MINNEAPOLIS — Simone Biles returns to the Olympics and the bright spotlight that comes with it.
The gymnast earned her third trip to her sport’s biggest stage by winning the U.S. Olympic qualifiers on Sunday night. She posted a two-day total of 117.225, capturing the only automatic spot on the five-woman team.
Three years after the Tokyo Olympics, where she withdrew from multiple finals to prioritize her safety and mental health, Biles returns to the Games looking perhaps better than ever.
“By trusting the process and (my coaches), I knew I would come back,” Biles said.
A trip to France has never really been in doubt since she returned from a two-year break last summer. All she has done in the past 12 months is win a sixth world all-around title and her eighth and ninth national championships – both records – while further cementing her status as the best ever in her sport.
She goes to Paris as a prohibitive favorite to bookend the Olympic gold she won in 2016, but also with things to work on.
Biles backed off after landing her Yurchenko double pike jump, a testament to both the difficulty of the jump and the sheer force she generates during a skill that few male gymnasts attempt and even fewer land so cleanly.
She jumped off the beam after failing to land her side aerial, though she wasn’t as frustrated as she was during a sloppy performance on Friday, during which she uttered an expletive for all the world to see.
Biles finished with a floor exercise, her signature event. While there was a small step out of bounds, there was also the unparalleled world-class tumbling that recently attracted a lot of attention by pop star Taylor Swiftwhose song “Ready For It” opens Biles’ routine.
She stepped off the stage to a standing ovation and then sat on the steps to take in the moment. This could be her last competition on American soil.
Next stop: Paris.
The Americans will likely have plenty of experience on their hands as they attempt to return to the top of the podium after finishing second behind Russia in 2020.
Reigning Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, 2020 Olympic floor champion Jade Carey and 2020 Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles were all compelling candidates to join Biles and complete the top four.
Yet the Biles who will take the floor at Bercy Arena in four weeks for Olympic qualifying is not the same one who left Tokyo.
She’s taken deliberate steps to ensure her life is no longer defined by her gymnastics. Biles married Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens in the spring of 2023, and the two are building a home in the northern suburbs of Houston where they hope to move shortly after Biles returns from Paris.
Biles travels to France to perhaps become the face of the American Olympic movement. However, she knows that some of the millions of people who will tune in next month will want to see if the demons that upset her in Tokyo resurface.
And while there are still moments of anxiety — including last year’s world championships — she has taken steps to protect herself. She sees a therapist weekly, even during competition season, something she didn’t do in preparation for the 2020 Games.
Biles and the other four women joining her in France will be considered heavy favourites, especially with defending champions Russia unable to compete as part of the fallout from the war in Ukraine.
The Americans are bringing their oldest-ever women’s team to the Games, as Biles’ unparalleled durability (she hasn’t lost a match she started or finished since 2013) and the relaxation of name, image and likeness rules at the NCAA level have helped ensured that 2020 Olympic Games veterans Carey, Chiles and Lee could continue to compete while capitalizing on their newfound fame.
They’ve relied on that experience to return to this moment during a sometimes harrowing encounter with leading contenders Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely And Kayla DiCello left with leg injuries that put them out of the mix weeks before the opening ceremony.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games