Team USA women’s gymnastics vaulted, swung, spun, bounced, danced, and balanced to the top of the medal stand in Paris. These women had the world watching as they were one of the most sensitive stories of the Olympics. That began with Simone Biles’ journey in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Biles had led the 2021 US women’s Olympic team with expectations of an entire world upon her. When she competed in those games, Biles stumbled for a moment off the vault, which sent her plummeting into a mental state of doubt that eventually gave way to “the twisties.” This continued for Biles as she almost completely disappeared from the sport.
Team USA Women’s Gymnastics Wins Gold
The twisties are a dangerous phenomenon in which gymnasts lose their perception of their body while in the air. Sadly, Simone’s condition and confidence worsened when she left gymnastics, and most thought she had retired. Her condition was so terrible that it wasn’t until a year ago that she began her comeback, and what a comeback.
It Was a Team Effort
On Tuesday in the Paris Olympics, Simone Biles did a vault routine that shook the world. It also wasn’t just her as Jade Carey proved her experience and support for Team USA, putting up an almost perfect score for her difficulty.
Then there was Jordan Chiles. She proved an added perseverance to the team after she fell off the balance beam while mounting but went on with a fantastic performance. After her came Sunisa Lee and her performance added to Team USA’s score when she scored a half point higher than during her qualifying routine. Jordan went on to add an exceptional performance on the floor.
Simone went on facing her fears to do a difficult vault called a Cheng. That was the same maneuver she failed at in the last Olympics. This time, she performed it flawlessly, putting a nail in the coffin of her doubt and burying it.
The Vault and Uneven Bars
The next event for Team USA was the Vault. Carey had been slated to compete on both the vault and the floor but was only able to participate in the vault after recovering from being sick for almost a week. Carey also executed a Cheng almost perfectly.
Uneven Bars are where Lee added to Team USA’s score with one of the most difficult routines with only a small error where her foot brushed the mat. That error cost her three-tenths of a point, but such are the standards of the Olympics. She swung and flipped into a most difficult maneuver called a Nabieva and executed it wonderfully.
Unfortunately, most everyone is talking about Jordan’s stumble when she mounted the Balance Beam when it was Team USA’s turn, but after that, she was solid, earning 12.733 for the team. In a way, Jordan’s slight mistake helped Lee, who followed soon after Jordan. After winning gold, Lee said,
“I don’t know why, but I kind of took the pressure off myself because I was, like, ‘You know what? This doesn’t have to be perfect. Just going to go up there and do what I normally do and remember to focus and breathe. And I think that’s exactly what I did.”
The Floor and Teamwork Made Gold
Chiles’s mistake on the beam didn’t show up for an instant with her floor routine, or it could be because her choreography was being done to Beyonce’s music. Her moves, skill level, and difficulty were so high that they have earned her the title of being one of the best in the world.
Team USA won gold, and Biles produced a comeback worthy of an Olympian. She herself explained the difference,
“Going into tonight, we did what we were supposed to, but it just felt a little bit different. It was super exciting. We had fun. We enjoyed each other’s time out there, and we just did our gymnastics.”
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