By: Isabelle Wang
On Thursday, August 1, 2024, Simone Biles won her second Olympic all-around title by more than a point. She had to recover from a mistake on the bars to stay ahead of Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who won silver.
On the vault, Biles executed the world’s most challenging skill, the Yurchenko double pike, a feat no other woman has achieved. A Yurchenko double pike is two full flips while tucking their body tightly into a ball. The difficulty of the vault gave her an advantage of eight-tenths of a point over Andrade, who performed a Cheng vault. The Cheng vault is a half-twist combined with a front handspring entry and a full rotation in the layout or slightly tucked position.
However, Biles encountered a significant mistake on the uneven bars. She misjudged her positioning during the transition from the high bar to the low bar, causing her to bend her legs to avoid hitting the mat and do an extra swing to regain her rhythm. This error placed her third at the competition’s halfway mark, while her teammate Sunisa Lee began to close the gap.
All medalists on the balance beam had minor wobbles, but Biles effectively minimized hers. She reclaimed the lead with an extremely challenging full-twisting double-back dismount. Andrade stayed within a couple of tenths of a point behind, maintaining pressure going into the final rotation.
Biles solidified her lead with a distinctive floor routine, securing her second Olympic all-around title. The routine featured two moves named after her: a triple-twisting double backflip with tucked knees and a half-twisting double backflip with a straight body. Biles is the first woman to successfully do a triple-twisting double backflip with tucked knees. Andrade stepped out of bounds once but secured second place. Biles won gold.
Suni Lee, the 2021 Tokyo all-around champion, delivered a strong floor routine to claim the bronze medal. Her performance began with a full-twisting double back flip, executed with such precision that she visibly celebrated as she landed. By the time the final scores were announced, Biles and Lee were already by the side of the floor with an American flag, awaiting the official results.