SimoneBilesof United States reacts after falling off during her performance in the women's balance beam final on August 5.
Paris CNN —
Simone Biles slipped off the balance beam and incurred costly penalties on the floor as she failed to win a gold medal for the first time at these Summer Olympics in Paris – which have been serving as an emphatic comeback from disappointment three years ago in Tokyo.
In the individual beam final, Biles lost her balance and fell off the apparatus, costing her a chance to make even more history here in France. Alice D’Amato of Italy took home the gold, Zhou Yaqin of China took silver and Italian Manila Esposito took the bronze.
Later in the floor final, Biles appeared to have put together another stunning performance on an apparatus on which she has excelled here in Paris. But two moments of landing out of bounds cost Biles six-tenths of a point, enough to bring her score down to 14.133 behind gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, who scored a 14.166.
It’s a slightly disappointing end to an incredible Games for the American legend. Biles, already the most decorated gymnast of all time, put her name next to a few more records last week when she won the gold in the team event with Team USA, the individual all-around competition and the vault final.
With those wins, Biles became the most decorated American Olympic gymnast of all time – now with 11 total Olympic medals, including seven gold – and also became the oldest American gymnast to win a gold medal at 27.
While it wasn’t the result she wanted, Biles is not walking away from Paris disappointed.
“I accomplished way more than my wildest dreams – not just at this Olympics, but in this sport,” Biles told reporters afterward. “So I can’t be mad at my performances. A couple years ago, I didn’t think I’d be back here at an Olympic Games, so competing and then walking away with four medals, I’m not mad about it. I’m pretty proud of myself.”
She had a chance to tie another incredible mark if she had won both the beam and the floor exercises on Monday. The only two women to ever win nine Olympic gold medals are American swimmer Katie Ledecky and Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina. Biles will have to wait until Los Angeles in 2028 if she wants to try and reach that mark.
Simone Biles competes on the balance beam during the individual all-around at the Paris Olympics in August 2024. She won gold.
Biles talks with her grandfather, Ron, as she trains in Houston in August 2013. Biles grew up in Spring, Texas, just outside of Houston.
Biles competes on the balance beam during the US National Gymnastics Championships in August 2013. She won gold in the individual all-around.
Biles dodges a bee flying near her during the medal ceremony at the 2014 World Championships. She successfully defended her title in the individual all-around.
Biles, left, poses at home with her grandparents Ron and Nellie, who adopted her and her younger sister Adria, right.
Biles practices in Houston in January 2016.
Biles, right, and fellow gymnast Gabby Douglas stand during the opening ceremony of the 2016 US Olympic Trials. Both made the team. Douglas was the Olympic all-around champion in 2012.
Biles celebrates with her teammates after the US Olympic Trials in 2016.
Biles competes on the balance beam at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She won gold in the individual all-around and the team all-around. She also added two more golds and a bronze.
Biles competes on the uneven bars at the 2016 Olympics.
From left, US gymnasts Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas celebrate after winning gold in the team all-around at the 2016 Olympics.
Biles celebrates with the gold medal she earned for her individual all-around title at the 2016 Olympics.
Biles has her legs held by host Jimmy Fallon as she plays a game called Hungry Hungry Humans on "The Tonight Show" in August 2016. Also playing were actor Donald Glover and some of Biles' teammates.
Biles poses with swimming legend Michael Phelps, Raisman and actress Olivia Munn during a recording of the show "Lip Sync Battle: All Stars Live" in September 2016.
First lady Michelle Obama rests her elbow on Biles' head as President Barack Obama speaks at the White House in September 2016. The Obamas were hosting an event for US Olympians.
Biles takes a photo with a young fan in Houston in September 2016.
Biles competes in "Dancing with the Stars" with Sasha Farber in 2017. They would finish in fourth place.
Biles speaks after receiving the ESPY Award for best female athlete in 2017.
Biles performs with the Houston Texans cheerleaders in December 2017.
Biles competes on the uneven bars during the 2018 World Championships. She won gold in the individual all-around.
Biles soars through the air while competing on the uneven bars at the World Championships in 2019. Again, she won gold in the individual all-around.
Biles competes in the floor exercise during the World Championships in 2019.
Biles celebrates after winning the balance beam final at the 2019 World Championships.
During the GK US Classic in May 2021, Biles became the first woman in history to land a Yurchenko double pike vault in competition.
Biles lands awkwardly while competing in the team all-around at the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021. Biles stumbled on the vault landing and then pulled out of the competition over mental-health concerns.
Biles is congratulated by coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi after they realized Biles would win an Olympic bronze medal in the balance beam final in July 2021. Biles had pulled out of several events earlier in Tokyo, citing mental health concerns. Specifically, she said she had "the twisties," a mental block in gymnastics in which competitors lose track of their positioning midair. Her bronze medal tied her with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals ever won by an American gymnast.
From left, Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman are sworn in to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2021. They sharply criticized how FBI agents handled the sexual abuse allegations against Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics team doctor now serving a long prison sentence.
President Joe Biden awards Biles with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in July 2022. Biles, 25, became the youngest person ever to receive the award. "When she stands on the podium,we see what she is: absolute courage to turn personal pain into a greater purpose, to stand and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves," Biden said.
Biles appears on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" in September 2022. On the right is US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Biles competes in the uneven bars at the Core Hydration Classic in August 2023. It was her first competitive event since 2021, and she won the all-around.
Biles celebrates after winning a record eighth national all-around title at the US Gymnastics Championships in August 2023. The 26-year-old also became the oldest woman to ever win the championships.
Biles lands a Yurchenko double pike vault — a high-difficulty skill historically only done by men — while qualifying for the women's all-around competition at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in October 2023. It was the first time a woman landed the move in an international competition.
Biles celebrates after winning the individual all-around at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in October 2023. By winning gold, she became the most decorated female or male gymnast ever, surpassing Belarusian Vitaly Scherbo's record of 33 overall medals across both the Olympics and the world championships.
Biles competes in the floor exercise during the US Gymnastics Championships in June 2024. Biles dominated the event.
Biles celebrates as the 2024 Olympic team was named in June.
Biles competes on the balance beam during the team competition at the Paris Olympics in July 2024. The Americans won gold for Biles' eighth Olympic medal.
Team USA celebrates as Biles finishes her floor exercise in the Olympic team competition.
Biles shows off a goat necklace after winning Olympic gold in the individual all-around in August 2024. Many consider Biles to be the GOAT: greatest of all time.
Biles competes in the individual vault final in August 2024. She took home the gold, her 10th Olympic medal.
In pictures: Superstar gymnast Simone Biles
It was a tough day on the beam overall for many as multiple competitors fell, including Biles’ Team USA teammate Sunisa Lee.
Lee lost her footing during her routine and slipped, landing with the beam between her legs before tipping over onto the mat on her side. She would end up finishing in sixth place, one spot behind Biles.
Unlike Biles, the 2020 gold medalist in the all-around won’t get another chance on Monday to redeem herself. The beam was Lee’s last competition here in Paris.
“It was a lot of pressure. It was just crazy to see how everybody was going down like that,” Lee said after. “You could feel the tension in the room. The crowd shushing us for cheering. We didn’t like that as it was just so silent in there. I love hearing my teammates cheer for me.”
Biles added that it was a weird beam final and that the silence in the arena – marked by some shushing from the crowd when the gymnasts tried to cheer on their teammates – was a little unsettling. She said she and other gymnasts have previously asked for music to be piped in during the beam finals, but have been denied.
“I don’t know. It was really weird and awkward,” Biles said. “And we’ve asked several times if we can have some music or some background noise, so I’m not really sure what happened there. But yeah, not our favorite. None of us liked it.”
A pressure-packed floor final
The moment marked a massive test for Biles later on Monday when she took on the floor final.
Throughout these Olympics, Biles has emphasized what a key role her mentality has played in bouncing back from disappointment in Tokyo. She acknowledged after the team final that thoughts of her withdrawal from those events three years ago were lingering as she began her vault for Team USA.
Biles, who has talked about the importance of taking care of her mental health during these Games after each of her golden performances, has said she’s speaking with her therapist every morning before competition and religiously every Thursday.
“After all these years of putting in the mental work in, it’s paid off,” Biles said Saturday after winning her latest gold.
She added, “The Olympics is such a draining process for the athletes. It’s multiple days of competitions, so you definitely have to be on top of your mental as well as your physical [health].”
Her routine was full of the power and grace that Biles has made her trademark. Her speed and the torque on her spins were incredible and her flips made her appear to be floating on air. But all that power and speed had a side-effect as the American on two occasions had to step out of bounds in order to catch her footing, incurring those costly penalties.
When she finished, Biles looked to have done more than enough to pip Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade to the gold medal. Andrade’s total score was far below the performances that Biles had been turning in on the floor during her appearances earlier in the competition and, if the American performed to her usual standard, then she was a shoo-in for gold.
But those few tiny stumbles were just enough to give the Brazilian her second Olympic gold medal. Andrade had pushed and pushed Biles throughout these Paris Games, in the individual all-around competition and the vault final in which the American took home the Olympic title.
After Thursday night’s all-around final, Biles said she loved competing against the Brazilian, but Andrade was getting “too close.”
“I don’t want to compete with Rebeca no more. I’m tired,” Biles said at the time. “She’s way too close. I’ve never had an athlete that close, so it definitely put me on my toes, and it brought up the best athlete in myself, so I’m excited and proud to compete with her but … it was uncomfortable, guys. I was stressing.”
Biles and Chiles bow to Andrade, the new queen of the floor
Left to right, US' Simone Biles (silver), Brazil's Rebeca Andrade (gold) and US' Jordan Chiles (bronze) pose during the podium ceremony for the artistic gymnastics women's floor exercise event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on August 5.
Biles seemed to take the disappointment in stride – her and bronze medalist Jordan Chiles bowed before the Brazilian after the competition, hailing her as the new queen of the floor.
“She’s so amazing. She’s queen,” Biles said of Andrade on Monday. “And first it was an all-Black podium, so that was super exciting for us. But then Jordan was like, ‘Should we bow to her?’ And I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ So we’re like, ‘Are we gonna do it now?’ And then, that’s why we did it.
“But she’s, she’s such an excitement to watch. And then all the fans in the crowd always cheering for her. So it was just the right thing to do. She’s sweet.”
Chiles said she wanted to make sure that Andrade got the praise that she felt the Brazilian deserved and that the new gold medalist is one of the kinder competitors to go up against.
“You know, she’s an icon, a legend herself,” Chiles said. “So I feel like being recognized is what everybody should do when it comes to somebody who’s put in the work, put in the dedication. So yeah, in that moment, I was like … first off, again, yes, it was an all-Black podium. Second off, why don’t we just give her flowers? She’s given, you know, not only has she given Simone her flowers, but a lot of us on, in the United States our flowers as well, so giving it back is what makes it so beautiful. So I felt like it was needed.”
Chiles herself only just got on the medal stand in another dramatic twist. After her routine, she was awarded a score of 13.666, putting her in fifth place. But then she challenged the judges’ score and her difficulty marks were increased by .1 points, enough to move her over Romania’s Ana Bărbosu for the final spot on the podium.
This story has been updated with additional information.
