(PARIS) — Simone Biles and Suni Lee are back on the mat Thursday for the artistic gymnastics women’s individual all-around final.
The veteran Team USA stars, who helped add the team’s fourth Olympics gold medal on Tuesday, will compete in four rotations: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.
Biles, who won the individual all-around in Rio in 2016, and Lee, who won the individual title in Tokyo in 2021, are the first former all-around winners to face off in an Olympic individual all-around event.
Rotation 1: Vault
Lee went first with a Yurchenko double full and had a slight hop on the landing to post a 13.933.
Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who bested Biles on the vault at last year’s world championships and will likely be her top competitor in the all-around as well, posted an impressive 15.100.
Biles posted a 15.766 on her Yurchenko double pike, boosted by a massive 6.400 difficulty score, to shoot to the lead after the first rotation.
Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour scored 14.003 on her vault.
Italians Alice D’Amato and Manila Esposito scored 14.000 and 13.866, respectively.
Rotation 2: Uneven Bars
Following Andrade, who scored a 14.666 after a very technically sound routine, Biles dropped behind her Brazilian competitor with a 13.733.
Nemour, who is a favorite for gold in this apparatus, scored a 15.533 to jump ahead of Biles through the second rotation. Lee then put up a 14.866, which as of time of publication put her up to fifth place overall.
Biles has two of her best events to come with beam and floor remaining.
Biles goes for gold — again
If she wins today, Biles would become the first gymnast ever, male or female, to win the all-around eight years apart. Biles, a favorite to win in Tokyo, dropped out of the event to focus on her mental health.
Brazil’s Andrade and Algeria’s Nemour will be among the top gymnasts competing for a sport on the podium as well.
In winning gold earlier this week, Biles became the most-decorated American gymnast in history with eight medals. She broke a tie with the great Shannon Miller for most overall medals.
Lee, who was cleared for competition in January after overcoming an unspecified kidney disease, is the reigning all-around Olympic gold medalist from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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