Simone Biles is a two-time Olympic medalist and one of the few female gymnasts to ever win individual all-around titles at three Olympics. She has also dominated her sport for years, winning the 2014 and 2016 world championships and the 2013 and 2015 U.S. championships. However, going into the 2016 Rio Olympics, Biles wasn’t expected to make the team.
The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, have come to a close with the victory of the United States, Team USA, in women’s gymnastics. The United States’ Simone Biles earned her third gold medal of the Olympics, winning the floor exercise in front of a home crowd. Biles also earned silver medals in the vault and balance beam, and bronze in the uneven bars.
Simone Biles, a 17-year-old gymnast, who is currently competing in the Rio Olympics has been making quite a splash in the Olympic gymnastics world.. Read more about us women’s gymnastics team members 2021 and let us know what you think.
Tokyo time is 3:34 p.m. on July 25.
Important Updates:
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1:45 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
1:45 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Is Biles the reason the US has such a stronghold?
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At 11:57 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:57 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
Why six Americans will not compete in the all-around final due to the two-per-country rule.
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10:53 p.m. ET, July 24, 2021
10:53 p.m. ET, July 24, 2021
Queen, Billie Eilish, and a bunch of extremely loud music
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9:03 p.m. ET, July 24, 2021
9:03 p.m. ET, July 24, 2021
In the United States, here’s how to watch.
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9:03 p.m. ET, July 24, 2021
9:03 p.m. ET, July 24, 2021
Who’s who in American politics.
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9:01 p.m. ET, July 24, 2021
9:01 p.m. ET, July 24, 2021
What is the scoring system and how does it work?
2:27 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
2:27 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
The uneven bars caused Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands to fall. She can perform a layout Hindorff, which involves stretching out her body over the high bar and then turning half-turning to hang in a mixed L-grip. If she had attempted the very difficult skill here, it would have been named after her. Her most powerful event, beam, is yet to come.
2:25 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
2:25 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Larisa Iordache nailed the most of her beam routine, with the exception of a wobble on a tricky back handspring to full twist back handspring, but then fell on the dismount and seemed to be in discomfort. We knew she was dealing with an ankle issue going into this, but it’s still heartbreaking to watch.
2:22 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
2:22 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
No one on the US team has been as steady and reliable as Jordan Chiles this year, not even Simone Biles. She’s the gymnast the United States can rely on.
2:19 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
2:19 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Great floor routine by Sunisa Lee, who could win silver to Simone Biles in the all-around. She’s the most graceful dancer on this year’s team and makes every move look so easy.
2:18 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
2:18 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Sarah Jantzi, Grace McCallum’s coach, is here, and although you may not know her, she has had a significant impact on the sport in the past six years. She was the coach who came out in the Lawrence G. Nassar sexual abuse case as a whistleblower.
2:14 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
2:14 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Grace McCallum’s first tumbling pass is well out of bounds, but that’s to be expected from a first-time Olympian. Nerves and adrenaline galore!
2:06 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
2:06 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
The United States, of course, is the major attraction in this section, which is the third of five. However, there are 11 individual gymnasts from nations who did not qualify complete teams for the Games, as well as the Dutch team (headed by Sanne Wevers, the defending Olympic champion on the balance beam). Filipa Martins of Portugal, who excels on bars, and Larisa Iordache of Romania, who hopes to qualify for the beam final, are among them.
1:59 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
1:59 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Some background for those who may have woken up to see the United States or who will just watch the Americans compete in the qualifying. As we enter the third section, the Russians are in front of the competition with a total score of 171.629, while Angelina Melnikova of Russia presently has the best all-around score (57.132). To put things in perspective, the Americans qualified for the team event at the most recent world championships with a score of 174.205.
1:45 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
1:45 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Biles tries such difficult moves that she may fall and yet win a competition. Credit… The New York Times/Chang W. Lee
Yes, but there’s also a no.
Simone Biles does so tough gymnastics that she may fall and yet win a competition. Look for her to launch a strong Yurchenko double pike vault — which will be named after her if she completes it during the Games — and toss a double tuck with three twists on the floor at some point during the competition. She is the only woman who has ever won a tournament with these abilities.
Despite the fact that a team without Biles would almost likely score worse, they would still win gold. According to Spencer Barnes, presenter of the gymnastics podcast Gymcastic, the Americans could have up to four falls and still win a “hit” meet against all other teams.
Since 2011, the United States has won the team event at every Olympic and world competition.
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1:30 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
1:30 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
In June, Jade Carey competed in the US Olympic trials. Credit… Associated Press/Jeff Roberson
The American gymnast Jade Carey might — we’re hedging here because it would be risky — debut a floor exercise skill that even Simone Biles has not attempted in competition: a triple-twisting double layout. It would be the hardest tumbling pass ever performed by a woman.
Carey would do a roundoff and a sequence of back handsprings before performing two back flips and three twists as part of the boundary-pushing skill. Carey’s triple-double on the floor is comparable to Biles’s amazing triple-double, but instead of tucking her knees towards her chest, she compounds the difficulty by maintaining her torso upright. Carey caught the pass while practicing at the recent US championships, while her father and coach, Brian Carey, looked on. Biles “walked past and said congratulations and that’s amazing,” according to NBC analyst Tim Daggett.
Carey played it cautious during podium training on Thursday, opting for a still-tough Moors routine (a double-twisting double layout). She finished with a strong front layout that led to a tucked double-double.
The triple-double layout will be named after her if she lands it in either the qualifying or the floor exercise final – assuming she advances to that event.
Carey, 21, is also a medal contender on vault, having finished second in the event at both the 2017 and 2019 global championships. She, like her fellow Arizonan MyKayla Skinner, is not competing in the team competition. She qualified for the Olympics by competing in a multi-year World Cup series.
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1:24 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
1:24 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
A penalty like that lost the United States the bronze medal in the team competition at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Because an alternative, Rhonda Faehn, was standing on the platform when Kelly Garrison competed on the uneven bars, the US was docked 0.5 points. (Faehn had moved a springboard away, which she was permitted to do, but she subsequently failed to take the necessary step off the platform.) East Germany won the bronze medal by 0.3 points.
1:31 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
1:31 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Jennifer Gadirova, according to the official results, violated the warmup time restriction, resulting in a 0.3-point penalty from Britain’s team total. It’s fortunate for Britain that this occurred during qualifying rather than the team finals, when gold are decided by tenths of a point.
1:14 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
1:14 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
China successfully claimed that the complexity of Lu Yufei’s floor routine was not adequately accounted for by the judges. Credit… Getty Images/Lionel Bonaventure/Agence France-Presse
The two-per-country rule, which stipulates that each Olympic gymnastics final may only include two gymnasts from the same country, is always a source of drama and sorrow for the top-scoring countries. There was a little something more today.
When China’s Lu Yufei completed her final routine of the night, the floor exercise, she earned a surprisingly low score of 12.466, putting her in third place among the Chinese women’s all-around totals, behind Tang Xijing and Zhang Jin. Lu, China’s incumbent national champion, seemed to be a tenth of a point away from qualifying for the all-around final.
China, on the other hand, disputed her score and filed an investigation. This is something that countries may do if they feel a gymnast was not given enough credit for the difficulty of a routine. (Execution scores are unassailable.) Lu’s routine was re-evaluated by the judges, and her score was raised by two tenths, to 12.666, taking her from third to second place among the Chinese women and excluding Zhang from the all-around final.
Because her colleagues Angelina Melnikova and Vladislava Urazova finished ahead of her, the reigning European all-around champion Viktoria Listunova of Russia will miss the final due to the two-per-country rule. In addition, since Melnikova and Anastasia Iliankova scored better on the uneven bars, Listunova and Urazova will miss the final.
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12:50 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
12:50 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
On the floor, China successfully disputed Lu Yufei’s score. As a result of the increase, Zhang Jin will now miss the all-around final due to the two-per-country rule.
12:47 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
12:47 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
With the second subdivision completed, Russia has a commanding 5-point lead over China in the team competition: 171.629 to 166.663. These totals don’t important since they’ll both comfortably qualify for the team final, but they do offer us an idea of how the nations could stack up in the finals.
12:46 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
12:46 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Subdivisions 3 through 5 will, of course, include the United States and many other nations.
12:46 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
12:46 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Another two-per-country casualty: Chinese national champion Lu Yufei will also miss the all-around. By less than a tenth of a point, she is in third position among Chinese gymnasts.
12:40 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
12:40 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Lilia Akhaimova lost her balance and went off the balance beam. Because this is a qualifying round rather than a final, Russia gets to discard their lowest score on each apparatus, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
12:40 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
12:40 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
In the close battle for the eight places in the uneven bars final, Angelina Melnikova and Anastasia Iliankova are virtually likely to advance. So far today, Iliankova has the highest score of 14.966. Due to the two-per-country rule, two additional Russians, Viktoria Listunova and Vladislava Urazova, will not be able to compete for an individual bars medal despite outscoring China’s Fan Yilin (14.600). Sunisa Lee of the United States and Nina Derwael of Belgium are expected to give Melnikova and Iliankova a tough fight. Lee possesses one of the world’s most challenging bars routines.
12:39 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
12:39 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Because to the two-per-country rule, Viktoria Listunova, the reigning European all-around champion, will miss both the all-around and bars finals. In the all-around, Angelina Melnikova and Vladislava Urazova are ahead of her, while on bars, Anastasia Iliankova and Melnikova are ahead of her.
12:21 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
12:21 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Guan Chenchen’s score on beam has finally arrived after a lengthy wait: 14.933. This puts her six tenths ahead of Tang Xijing, China’s second-best beam performer.
12:18 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
12:18 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Nothing is certain until all five sections are completed, but Guan Chenchen, who is competing for China as an individual, has a fantastic beam routine that gives her in a strong position to reach the beam final, where she would be a major medal candidate.
12:07 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
12:07 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
The US women’s gymnastics team posed with Oksana Chusovitina, who has been competing in the sport since 1982, on a recent day in Tokyo. Simone Biles’ son was born when she was just two years old.
Uzbekistan’s Chusovitina, 46, is participating in her seventh Olympics. Since 1952, the United States has fielded its oldest women’s gymnastics squad. The median age is 20.8 years.
The sport looks a lot different now than it did decades ago, when 14- and 15-year-olds were routinely earning gold. It has something to do with rules. Women have had to be 16 or older in the Olympic year since 2000. Since then, the point system has evolved many times, and it currently rewards a wide range of abilities that undoubtedly increase with time and muscle. Take Biles’ Yurchenko double pike, for example. A female would have a tough time generating the necessary power to do the task correctly and securely.
While many past American teams included adults (Annia Hatch, for example, was 26 at the 2004 Olympics), it seems that more Americans are now competing long into adulthood.
The average age of the German squad is 26, with the oldest player being 32. Simona Castro is a 32-year-old Chilean woman. Italy’s Vanessa Ferrari is 30 years old. Sanne and Lieke Wevers, Dutch twins, are almost 30 years old.
Many of these athletes, like Biles, test their personal boundaries. Sanne Wevers, the 2016 Olympic beam champion, has introduced the world’s most challenging uneven bars element.
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12:01 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
12:01 a.m. ET, July 25, 2021
Alice Kinsella of the United Kingdom is having a bad day. She just fell completely out of bounds on the floor on one of her tumbling passes, resulting in a 0.3-point penalty, and she goes back to the sidelines shaking her head.
Credit… Getty Images/Francois Nel
At 11:57 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:57 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
Jordan Chiles may be impacted by the rule that only two gymnasts from each nation are allowed to compete in each final. Credit… The New York Times/Chang W. Lee
When it comes to gymnastics talent, the United States is so rich that the phrase “the United States is so rich that” has become a cliché.
The United States has such depth that it could send its “B squad” to the Olympics and win gold. The United States has such depth that all six of its gymnasts have a chance to compete in the all-around final in Tokyo.
The two-per-country rule advises, “Not so fast on that final one.”
The regulation stipulates that only two gymnasts from each nation are allowed to compete in each final. Even if all six Americans qualify among the top 24 all-arounders, which is a distinct possibility, only two will advance.
The idea is to prevent countries with lots of money from monopolizing the finals. A gymnast training without the mats, foam-block pits and other equipment that help gymnasts from affluent countries work safely toward world-class skills is unlikely to reach the same level. But if she qualifies for an Olympic final, that can bring attention and resources to her country’s future athletes.
In reality, though, this isn’t always the case. The regulation prevented gymnasts from the United States, Japan, Russia, and Brazil out of the all-around final at the 2016 Olympics, allowing gymnasts from France, Germany, and Italy to compete. Gymnasts from low-resource nations who advanced to the finals, such as Jessica López of Venezuela (all-around and bars) and Dipa Karmakar of India (vault), qualified regardless of the rule.
This year, the regulation will apply to Suni Lee or Jordan Chiles of the United States, who might both win silver or bronze in the all-around, but only one of them will be allowed to compete for the slot reserved for an American who isn’t named Simone Biles. In the absence of the restriction, the other three Americans — Grace McCallum, Jade Carey, and MyKayla Skinner — would almost certainly reach the final, but not medal.
Viktoria Listunova, Angelina Melnikova, and Vladislava Urazova, all Russian gymnasts, are in a similar position, fighting for two places in the all-around. China will be impacted as well, but the gymnasts who aren’t competing — potentially Tang Xijing and Ou Yushan if their colleagues Zhang Jin and Lu Yufei finish higher — aren’t likely to be medal contenders.
The regulation also applies to the finals of the apparatus. Expect a struggle among the Americans on vault and floor, with Carey, Chiles, and Skinner vying for the non-Biles slot. Urazova, Melnikova, Listunova, and Anastasia Iliankova, four Russians, will compete for two places in the bars. China’s Ou, Lu, and Guan Chenchen may accomplish the same on beam.
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At 11:55 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:55 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
Viktoria Listunova’s bars performance was very challenging, culminating in an unique quadruple-twisting double back dismount. She struggled with leg form in the air, but she landed safely.
At 11:53 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:53 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
On vault, the Russians had a strong rotation, scoring 43.832 as a team, compared to China’s 42.366. The Russians had a.500 advantage at the midway mark. The 4 inch wide balancing beam will be used by both teams. The Chinese are renowned for their strength on that apparatus, whereas the Russians have struggled in previous tournaments.
At 11:52 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:52 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
Fan Yilin, competing as an individual for China, nailed her very difficult bars performance with just a tiny step on the dismount. She won global gold on bars in 2015 and 2017 and hopes to qualify for the finals here as well.
At 11:50 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:50 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
Russia will compete on bars next, followed by China on beam. Both of them are under a lot of pressure, both in terms of the team score and qualifying for individual finals. For example, Russia has four gymnasts in contention for two places in the bars finals.
At 11:38 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:38 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
Ou Yushan had to push her way back up to a handstand after finishing one bars skill in a near-dead hang. Although China already has a couple of great bar routines from other gymnasts, the lack of momentum will be a detriment.
At 11:35 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:35 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
On each apparatus, four gymnasts compete for each nation, with the lowest score dropping out. Three gymnasts compete on each event in the team finals, and all three scores count. If Kinsella’s colleagues succeed, Britain’s bars and beam scores will be lowered.
At 11:34 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:34 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
Alice Kinsella of the United Kingdom fell on both the uneven bars and the balance beam, ending her chances of qualifying for the all-around final. She stood on the sidelines with her head in her hands after her beam performance. Her teammates were under pressure to hit as a result of her mistakes.
At 11:31 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:31 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
Tang Xijing of China has a fantastic bars routine. Regarding the pirouettes: Many of the Chinese gymnasts’ feats are performed in “eagle grip,” which is very difficult. Imagine you’re holding a bar in front of you, and you’re trying to grasp it underhand with your hands turned in the _wrong_ way.
At 11:28 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:28 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
If you need a refresher, we offer a guide on uneven bars abilities here.
At 11:28 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:28 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova of the United Kingdom are the second of three pairs of twins participating today in this category. The first subdivision featured Alice and Asia D’Amato of Italy, while the third will feature Lieke and Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands.
At 11:27 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:27 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
China is now competing on the bars, a discipline in which its gymnasts have thrived for decades. You’ll see that they have a distinct style, with complex and challenging pirouetting abilities.
At 11:20 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:20 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
The Russian gymnasts compete under the banner of the “Russian Olympic Committee.” Because Russia was barred from the Olympics due to its state-sponsored doping program, the squad cannot be referred to as “Russia.” Russian flags and anthems are also prohibited.
At 11:18 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:18 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
On the uneven bars, the British team is competing. Bars world silver medallist Becky Downie, who was left off the British team after a contentious decision by British Gymnastics, is suspiciously absent from the roster. Becky and her sister Ellie came up about the mental and physical abuse they received on the national team. Becky’s Olympic place may have been jeopardized as a result of her outspokenness, the sisters speculate.
At 11:18 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:18 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
Elena Gerasimova stands out from her Russian colleagues by wearing a sleeveless purple leotard. Jade Carey and MyKayla Skinner of the United States will compete as individuals later today. Their scores will not be added to the team totals, but they will be eligible to compete for individual medals.
At 11:17 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:17 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
China got off to a good start on vault, but that isn’t where it will win or lose the tournament. The team’s finest events are bars and beam, both of which will be held shortly.
At 11:14 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:14 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
A fun fact about the Russian team: its coaches chose Listunova, Melnikova, and Urazova early in the process, then had two additional gymnasts, Lilia Akhaimova and Elena Gerasimova, fight for the final place on the team and the right to participate as an individual athlete for weeks. Akhaimova was victorious.
At 11:12 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:12 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At the 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials, Honey performed on a vault. Credit… The New York Times/Chang W. Lee
Viewers watching NBC’s tape-delayed coverage of men’s gymnastics may have spotted honey bottles near the parallel bars as the ladies competed in Tokyo.
Men utilize honey to hold the bars by squeezing it into their palms, rubbing their hands together, and then dusting both hands with chalk before grabbing them.
Women who do not compete on the parallel bars, on the other hand, seldom use honey. However, on the uneven bars, stickiness is beneficial, so they spray water and put chalk on the bars, as well as wearing leather grips, for greater stability.
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At 11:10 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:10 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
Viktoria Listunova, who is just 16, has a strong floor routine to begin. She would not have been eligible for the Olympics if they had been held last year as scheduled. This year, she won the all-around in the European Championships.
At 11:10 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
At 11:10 p.m. ET on July 24, 2021,
One word of caution: don’t put too much stock in early rankings. Neither Russia nor China are putting their finest equipment in place.
Simone Biles has set a new world record for most points scored in a single gymnastics routine, and she is currently leading Team USA in the women’s all-around competition. The 19-year-old is an Olympic gold medalist, and the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic individual all-around titles. Biles is only the third U.S. woman to win the all-around title at two Olympics, and she is the first to do so in a non-boycotted Games.. Read more about what events did simone biles qualify for and let us know what you think.
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This article broadly covered the following related topics:
- us women’s gymnastics team members 2021
- 2021 olympics women’s gymnastics qualifying results
- 2021 women’s gymnastics olympic results
- women’s gymnastics olympic finals 2021
- gymnastics team finals
