Simone Biles underlined her professionalism and sportmanship at the 2024 Olympics after missing out on a gold medal in her final event in Paris.
Biles was hoping to win her fourth gold medal of the 2024 Olympics after emerging victorious in the team event with USA, before coming back to seal the individual all-around gold and dominated the vault final on Sunday.
But the American could only claiming silver in the floor event in Paris, with Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade deservedly scooping the top prize for an outstanding routine on the mat.
Biles, who had cut a frosty look earlier after blaming the tense atmosphere in the crowd for forcing her into a mistake in the beam event, was much happier at the end of the floor competition despite losing to Andrade.
The pair were joined by USA’s Jordan Chiles, who controversionally snatched the bronze medal away from Romania’s Ana Barbosu following a review of her score by the judges.
Instead of simply celebrating their medals with the national anthem, USA duo Biles and Chiles elected to give Andrade the ovation she deserved.
According to USA Today, Chiles approached her compatriot and apparently asked her USA colleague Biles: “Should we bow to her?” referring to Andrade.
Showing her classy character, Biles replied: “Absolutely” and the pair kneeled before gesturing to the Brazilian gymnast, 25.
When she was quizzed later on about on their admirable act, Biles simply said “it was just the right thing to do”.
Biles, 27, had been under pressure following an earlier mistake during the balance beam routine, where she fell off the bar – as several other competitors did – and finished outside the medal positions in fifth.
But she regained her composure and delivered a fine routine on the floor. With Andrade setting the benchmark at 14.166 early on, Biles knew she had to deliver a big performance.
She nailed the opening tumble with a double back and landed it smiling. Then she pulled off a full twist into a double back, although she landed outside the mat markings which resulted in her being marked down.
Her score of 14.133 fell just short of Andrade, putting her in the silver medal position. With two more gymnasts to go, 17-year-old Sabrina Maneca-Voinea could only score 13.700 and, despite a requested inquiry, the result stood.
USA’s Jordan Chiles was the last to go, but she could only place fifth with her score of 13.666. However, an appeal to the judges was granted and her score was upgraded to 13.733, lifting her into the bronze medal position and allowing Biles to take silver.
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