Team USA stars Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey carried the U.S. to gold in the team event in Paris on Tuesday.
In yet another Olympics, they came out on top. With Biles at her show-stopping best, the Americans’ total of 171.296 was well clear of Italy and Brazil.
This means that Biles has cemented her legacy as the greatest ever in her sport, and among the best in the history of the Olympics.
Jordan Chiles began the night by drilling her double-twisting Yurchenko vault. She meant business.
When Simone got on the floor, she provided the exclamation point anyway, sealing the Americans’ third gold in its last four trips to the Games.
And over two hours in front of a crowd that included everyone from tennis great Serena Williams and actor Natalie Portman to Biles’ husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, she did her best.
Three years after removing herself from the same competition to protect herself – a decision that changed the conversation around mental health in sports – Biles pushed her medal total in major competition to a staggering 38 and counting.
With her husband – on break from NFL training camp – waving an American flag while sitting next to her parents, Biles did what she has done so well for so long. She was on top without comparison.
The Cheng vault Carey did on the first rotation scored a 14.800 – second only to Biles – to give the U.S. a wide lead before Biles even saluted the judges.
