Simone Biles appears to be ok after tweaking her calf during warmups on floor exercise.
Despite the minor injury, she led the United States women’s artistic gymnastic team during Olympic qualifying at the Bercy Arena on Sunday. Despite a slight hobble, Biles and her teammates put on quite the show.
The Americans finished in first place with 172.296 points, putting them five points ahead of Italy heading into the team finals on Tuesday.
The U.S. women had five scores of 14.5 or higher, including Biles’ 15.8 on vault, and counted only one score lower than 13.6.
Biles will also head into the individual all-around final as the favorite.
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Cecile Landi, who is one of Biles’ personal coaches and also the coach of the U.S. women’s team, told reporters that she has no concerns about Biles continuing to compete in Paris. The coach also said it was the left calf and “she felt better at the end (of the session), yeah.”
The scary moment came during warmups on floor exercise, Biles landed the Biles I, a double layout with a half-twist, and appeared to pull her left leg up. She left the mat with team doctor, Dr. Marcia Faustin, and returned with her ankle taped.
If she continued to compete in pain, she didn’t show it.
The only thing she left out of her floor routine was the stag leap that usually follows the Biles I. Her score of 14.6 was tops for the event. She scored a 15.8 on vault and 14.33 on bars.
Landi also said there was no discussion about Biles doing just one vault or watering down her planned skills. Landi was then asked what Biles did with her leg: “Just a little pain in her calf. She felt it a little bit on the floor. And we taped it to kind of (tighten) it up.” Biles finished competing in the qualifying session with her left ankle taped.
Chellsie Memmel, the technical lead for the U.S. women’s team, was extremely impressed with Biles’ performance.
“Incredible,” Memmel said while laughing when asked her reaction to Biles’ performance. “She is an outstanding gymnast and a person and an overall human. So, what she was able to do, with looking like she had some soreness or something in her lower leg, is remarkable.”
“What she did today? I mean, it was pretty amazing. (A score of) 59.5 and four-for-four (hits),” Landi said. “Not perfect, so she still can improve with it. Just really good.”
Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast of all time, with 37 medals at the world championships and Olympics. She is expected to become just the third woman to win a second Olympic all-around individual title on Thursday.
Uncommon Knowledge
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