Simone Biles wins gold medal, Suni Lee earns bronze in Olympics gymnastics all-around final
Simone Biles and Suni Lee celebrate after winning medals in the Olympics gymnastics all-around final. (Getty Images)
Simone Biles and Suni Lee won medals in the Olympic all-around final Thursday. Biles won the gold medal and Lee earned the bronze. At 27, Biles is the oldest Olympic women’s gymnastics champ since 1952.
Biles edged Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade during a tense final. Biles’ total of 59.131 was just over a point ahead of Andrade at 57.932, one of the closest calls Biles has ever endured at a major international event, the Associated Press reported.
Final results from the Olympic all-around
- Simone Biles, USA - 59.131
- Rebeca Andrade, Brazil - 57.932
- Suni Lee, USA - 56.465
Simone Biles (L) and Suni Lee (R) prepare to compete in all-around gymnastics final at Paris Olympics on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (Getty Images)
Simone Biles makes it 6 straight for the U.S. women
Days after their "redemption tour" ended with a team gold medal, Biles and Lee made history, going head-to-head as part of the individual all-around finals.
The U.S. was the first nation to win five straight women’s all-around Olympic gold medals when Lee prevailed at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Make it six.
Simone Biles competes in all-around gymnastics final at Paris Olympics on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (Getty Images)
Biles is now the third woman to win two Olympic all-around titles. Lee won in Tokyo, Biles at Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Gabby Douglas at London in 2012, Nastia Liukin at Beijing in 2008 and Carly Patterson at Athens in 2004.
The earliest another nation could pass the U.S. for this run of consecutive all-around dominance: 2052, and that’s if one country wins the next seven Olympic titles in that event.
Olympics history
The women’s final marks the first time since the Olympics began offering an individual gold medal in the all-around in 1952 that there have been multiple Olympic champions in the same final.
With Biles' win, she became the first woman to claim multiple Olympic all-around golds since Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia went back-to-back in 1964 and 1968.
Simone Biles competes in all-around gymnastics final at Paris Olympics on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (Getty Images)
Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union also won consecutive golds in 1952 and 1956.
Biles has an 11-year unbeaten streak in the all-around in meets she has started and finished into the finals. It’s a run that has included an Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro and six world titles and nine U.S. Championships, the AP noted.
Gold medalist Simone Biles of Team United States poses on the podium during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's All-Around Final medal ceremony on day six of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 01, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pasca
Biles uses signature skill to vault ahead
Biles brought out the Yurchenko double pike vault after passing on doing one during the team final to protect her tender left calf, the Associated Press reported.
Biles is the only woman to ever complete the vault in competition and it carries her name in the sport’s Code of Points. The move requires her to do a roundoff back handspring onto the vaulting table, followed by two back flips while clasping her legs.
She took a sizable step back on her dismount but otherwise kept it under control.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.