They came. They saw. They conquered!
Team USA claimed gold in the women’s gymnastics team final at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. The victory marked a triumphant return for Simone Biles, who led the team to victory after her mid-competition withdrawal from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Biles, along with teammates Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee, and Hezly Rivera, scored a total of 171.296, finishing 5.802 points ahead of silver medalists Italy, with Brazil taking bronze.
This achievement marks Biles’s fifth Olympic gold, Lee and Carey’s second, and Chiles and Rivera’s first.
Team USA had previously won silver in Tokyo and Beijing and gold in Rio and London.
The competition began with strong performances on the vault by Chiles, Carey, and Biles, all scoring above 14. Biles led with a score of 14.900. On the uneven bars, Chiles, Biles, and Lee continued the momentum, each scoring above 14. Lee then led the team on the balance beam with a score of 14.600. In the floor routine, Lee scored 13.533, Chiles 13.966, and Biles 14.666.
The women’s victory came just a day after the U.S. men’s team won a bronze medal, their first since 2008.
The individual finals will follow, starting with the all-around on August 1.
Biles and Lee, the all-around gold medalist from Tokyo, will represent the U.S., marking the first time two all-around Olympic champions will compete head-to-head at the Games.
