Simone Biles fought through pain in her calf on Sunday to post an impressive all-around score and display the qualities which have made one of the greatest gymnasts of all time.
After she produced a flawless balance beam routine which scored 14.733 — the highest on the apparatus — Biles landed awkwardly while warming up for her floor routine and exited the arena before reemerging to get her lower left leg heavily taped.
She appeared in pain, walking with a heavy limp, but still managed to twist through the air with her usual force on every other apparatus, scoring an impressive 15.800 on the vault, 14.433 on the uneven bars and 14.600 on the floor.
Overall, she registered an all-around score of 59.566 in her return to the Olympics — more than three points ahead of her teammate Suni Lee.
When asked by reporters if she was OK following competition on Sunday, Biles sad, “Yup! As good as I can be.”
Coach’s praise: USA Gymnastics technical coach Chellsie Memmel told reporters she was impressed by the star’s gritty performance:
Overcoming adversity: In a new Netflix docuseries, “Simone Biles Rising,” the gymnastics champion reflects on her previous Olympic competitions as she prepared for the Paris Games.
Biles made the surprising decision to withdraw from competition at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after becoming disoriented in her routines and experiencing “the twisties.”
In episode 1 of the four-part docuseries, filmed as the event was taking place and following her to the Paris games, Biles describes what she was feeling.
“I’m getting lost in my skills,” she says in a selfie video at the time. “I just don’t get how. It’s like, I’m so prepared that I don’t know if I’m overthinking. It’s getting to the point where it’s becoming dangerous because I’m getting lost on all of my floor skills.”
Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, said she struggled with the intense public scrutiny she faced for prioritizing her mental and physical health.