Team USA won gold in the women’s team final for gymnastics in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris after dominating and maintaining its lead for most of the competition.
The artistic gymnastics team secured the top of the podium with a score of 171.296, nearly 6 points ahead of the second-place team.
Team USA had eyed first place after winning back-to-back gold at the Summer Olympics in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The team called the Olympic Games in Paris its “redemption tour” after Team USA earned silver at the Tokyo Games.
Simone Biles is now the most decorated American gymnast in the Olympic Games, with eight medals. She closed out the competition with a standing ovation from the crowd and a score of 14.666 on the floor.
Biles, 27, scored a stunning 14.9 on the vault, and she appeared to be extremely happy with her performance as she flashed a big smile after nailing her landing. The eight-time Olympic medalist tweaked her calf while warming up for floor exercise on July 28 but did appear with tape on her leg for the July 30 events. Her beam score of 14.366 was one of her highest marks of the night.
Biles and Jordan Chiles competed in all four events in the Bercy Arena in Paris.
Suni Lee, 21, competed in bars, beam, and floor. During uneven bars, she received a deduction because her feet touched the floor. However, because of the level of difficulty, she still scored 14.566. She later scored 13.533 on the floor.
Jade Carey, 24, competed on vault, her only event, and earned a 14.800. The gymnast revealed that a sickness played a part in her fall during her qualifying floor routine.
Chiles, 23, dazzled in her floor performance and scored a 13.966. The star almost burst into tears at the end of her floor routine. The gymnast trained with Biles, her best friend and teammate. The pair is known as the “dynamic duo.”
Team USA’s rivals suffered mistakes throughout the competition, including falls on the balance beam from Brazil and China.
The United States was in first place going into the final and had a 5-point lead over second-place Italy. Three gymnasts from each country competed on each apparatus. Team USA was the favorite heading into the team final.
American celebrities, including Natalie Portman, Serena Williams, Michael Phelps, Nicole Kidman, and Spike Lee, were spotted in the crowd cheering on Team USA during the women’s gymnastics team final.
Italy earned the silver medal with 165.494 points, and Brazil took home the bronze medal with a 164.497 score.
