Simone Biles Loses Gold Medal After Falling Off Balance Beam In Olympics Finals
Simone Biles slipped off the balance beam and incurred costly penalties on the floor, missing out on a gold medal for the first time at the Paris Summer Olympics.
During the individual beam final, Biles lost her balance and fell, eliminating her chance to make further history in France. Italy's Alice D'Amato won gold, China's Zhou Yaqin took silver, and Italy's Manila Esposito claimed bronze.
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In the floor final, Biles, 27, initially dazzled, but stepped out of bounds twice which cost her six-tenths of a point, resulting in a score of 14.133, just behind Brazil's Rebeca Andrade's 14.166.
Despite this, Biles had an exceptional Olympics, adding to her record as the most decorated American Olympic gymnast with 11 medals, including seven golds, and becoming the oldest American gymnast to win gold at 27.
"I accomplished way more than my wildest dreams — not just at this Olympics, but in this sport," she said at a press conference.
Biles had a chance to tie the record for the most Olympic golds if she had won both the beam and floor exercises. However, she will have to wait until Los Angeles in 2028 for another opportunity.
The beam final proved challenging, with many competitors, including Biles' teammate Sunisa Lee, falling. Lee lost her footing and finished sixth, one spot behind Biles. Unlike Biles, Lee's beam event was her last in Paris.
"It was a lot of pressure. It was just crazy to see how everybody was going down like that," Lee, 21, remarked.
Biles found the silence in the arena unsettling and noted that gymnasts had requested background music during finals but were denied. "It was really weird and awkward," she commented.
