The American gymnastics star and her singular brilliance powered a dominant U.S. women’s team in the finals inside a raucous Bercy Arena on Tuesday night.
With Biles at her show-stopping best, the Americans’ total of 171.296 was well clear of Italy and Brazil and the exclamation point of a yearlong run in which Biles has cemented her legacy as the greatest ever in her sport, and among the best in the history of the Olympics.
By the time Biles, with the left calf that bothered her during qualifying heavily taped, stepped onto the floor for the final event — a floor exercise set to music by Taylor Swift and Beyonce — her fifth Olympic gold medal was well in hand.
The 27-year-old provided the exclamation point anyway, sealing the Americans’ third gold in its last four trips to the Games.
And more than two hours in front of a crowd that included everyone from tennis great Serena Williams and actor Natalie Portman to Biles’ husband, football player Jonathan Owens of the NFL’s Chicago Bears, Biles left little doubt about anything.
Yet her return to the Games wasn’t so much about winning. It was about a joy she had lost somewhere along the way.
And there they were on the biggest stage, Chiles doing all four rotations right next to her good friend Biles while doubling as the U.S.’ hype woman. Lee mixing her elegance with grit while dazzling on beam and uneven bars, her two best events.
She vowed to write a different ending this time, and the Cheng vault she did on the first rotation scored a 14.800 — second only to Biles — to give the U.S. a commanding lead before Biles even saluted the judges.
The only real drama centered on who would finish next to the Americans on the medal stand.
Italy, which was a surprising second to the U.S. during qualifying, earned its first Olympic team medal since 1928 by holding off Brazil, which took bronze for its first medal in the biggest event in the sport.
