Simone Biles celebrates with her gold medal during the podium ceremonny after the artistic gymnastics women’s vault final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on August 3, 2024. (Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — As Olympic gymnastics came to a close in Paris, ABC News’ Good Morning America caught up with 11-time Olympic medalist and Team USA star Simone Biles, who has become the face of conversations on mental health.
For Biles, maintaining a strong routine outside the gym to focus on her emotional and psychological well-being was imperative for executing the best possible routines at the Paris Games.
“Staying on my weekly therapy sessions and even whenever I was here, I was scheduling appointments with my therapist that could work, whether it was early in the morning for me or early in the morning for her,” she said, speaking about how she’s balanced everything at the Games. “Staying on top of that meant the world to me, but also it helped me with my performances.”
Biles’ repeated emphasis on speaking up about the importance of mental heath has resonated with other athletes.
“I think it’s OK to not be OK. And I think I showed a very vulnerable side that most people don’t see, because most of the time, whenever I’m out there, they’re seeing me win gold medals and all this stuff that’s not relatable,” she said. “So, whenever I really break it down and I am very authentic to them, then they can feel like they can relate, and it’s on a personal level, and then they believe that they can get the help that they deserve.”
Biles added four more medals to her already illustrious career this summer, with three gold medals and one silver.
But it wasn’t just Biles’ therapy sessions that helped her: The entire team had access to a fully accredited furry companion named Beacon, who made the trip to help keep all five women calm throughout the competition.
The 4-year-old golden retriever is the organization’s first therapy dog, according to ESPN, and spent time comforting coaches and athletes alike during the Games.
Between the therapy sessions, Beacon’s support and impressive performances from individual events to the team final, the U.S. women will leave Paris with eight medals total.
They won the team gold medal; Biles won two additional gold individual medals in all-around and vault, plus silver in floor; Sunisa Lee won bronze in both all-around and uneven bars; Jade Carey won bronze in vault; and Chiles earned bronze for floor.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Guardians POSTPONED Minnesota Twins 3, Chicago Cubs 7 Tampa Bay Rays 3, St Louis Cardinals 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE LA Angels, NY Yankees POSTPONED Baltimore Orioles 2, Toronto Blue Jays 5 Boston Red Sox 6, Kansas City Royals 5 Texas Rangers 4, Houston Astros 2 Chicago White Sox 5, Oakland Athletics 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE Milwaukee Brewers 10, Atlanta Braves 0 N.Y. Mets 3, Colorado Rockies 6 San Francisco Giants 5, Washington Nationals 11 Cincinnati Reds 8, Miami Marlins 2 Philadelphia Phillies 2, L.A. Dodgers 2 San Diego Padres 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 0
Jordan Chiles of Team United States in action Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Floor Exercise Final on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the Bercy Arena on August 5, 2024 in Paris, France. (Tom Weller/VOIGT/GettyImages)
(PARIS) — U.S. women’s gymnastics star Jordan Chiles won two medals at the Summer Olympic Games.
Chiles joined ABC News’ Good Morning America from Disneyland Paris on Tuesday fresh off her bronze medal win in the floor exercise final.
“There were so many emotions, so many things going through my mind when I found out I got that bronze medal,” Chiles said. “I couldn’t be more proud of myself.”
After the finale event on Monday, which wrapped up the women’s artistic gymnastics competitions at the Summer Games, the U.S. women will leave Paris with eight medals total.
They won the team gold medal; Biles won two additional gold individual medals in all-around and vault, plus silver in floor; Sunisa Lee got bronze in both all-around and uneven bars; Jade Carey won bronze in vault; and Chiles earned bronze for floor.
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Silver medalist Simone Biles of United States and bronze medalist Jordan Chiles of the United States celebrate gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil during the medal ceremony after the Women’s Floor Exercise Final on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 5, 2024 in Paris, France. (Daniela Porcelli/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
(PARIS) — A show of true sportsmanship and respect unfolded in Bercy Arena as U.S. gymnastics stars Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowed to their Brazilian competitor, Rebeca Andrade, who earned her second Olympics gold medal in floor exercise on Monday.
The American teammates flanked Andrade on the podium — earning silver and bronze, respectively — and bowed down in a show of support to celebrate the 25-year-old as she raised her arms on the top step.
Olympics history made in Paris: First all-Black gymnastics podium
The now-viral celebration also marked a historic moment as Andrade, Biles and Chiles became the first all-Black gymnastics podium — men or women — in Olympics history.
“First, it was an all-Black podium, so that was super exciting for us,” Biles told reporters in a press conference. “But then Jordan was like, ‘Should we bow to her?’ And I was like, ‘absolutely’ — it was just the right thing to do.”
“She’s so amazing. She’s queen,” Biles said. “She’s such an excitement to watch — all the fans in the crowd always cheering for her.”
Andrade also took home bronze in the team event and two silver medals in vault and all-around. She also owns a gold from vault in Tokyo.
Chiles, who earned her third career Olympic medal, echoed her teammate’s sentiments, adding that Andrade is “a legend herself.”
“In that moment, I was like, ‘You know what? First off — yes, it was an all-Black podium.’ Second off, ‘Why don’t we just give her her flowers?’ Not only has she given Simone her flowers, but a lot of us in the United States our flowers as well. So, giving it back, is what makes it so beautiful. … I felt like it was needed,” she said.
US women’s gymnastics medal count in Paris
After the floor exercise final, which wrapped up the women’s artistic gymnastics competitions at the Summer Games, the U.S. women will leave Paris with eight medals total.
They won the team gold medal; Biles won two additional gold individual medals in all-around and vault, plus silver in floor; Sunisa Lee got bronze in both all-around and uneven bars; Jade Carey won bronze in vault; and Chiles earned bronze for floor.
Hezly Rivera, 16, who did not compete in Paris, will still go home with the team gold as the fifth squad member.
AMERICAN LEAGUE Boston Red Sox 9, Kansas City Royals 5 Texas Rangers 4, Houston Astros 3 Chicago White Sox 1, Oakland Athletics 5
NATIONAL LEAGUE N.Y. Mets 6, St. Louis Cardinals 0 San Francisco Giants 4, Washington Nationals 1 Cincinnati Reds 10, Miami Marlins 3 Philadelphia Phillies 3, L.A. Dodgers 5
Simone Biles the U.S. competes in the women’s artistic gymnastics individual floor exercise final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Aug. 5, 2024. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
(PARIS) — Simone Biles faltered in her last routine at the Paris Olympics, with a heavily wrapped left calf, but will still leave the Games with a silver medal in the floor event. Fellow American Jordan Chiles came through with a shocking bronze medal, even though celebrations had already begun with another athlete.
Biles brings her total Olympic medal count to 11 overall, including four total from the Paris Games.
In a bit of confusion after teammate Jordan Chiles’ score was first posted as only good enough for fifth place, a review led to an increase and the bronze medal. Romanian Ana Barbosu had already begun celebrating the bronze before Chiles’ adjusted score was posted.
Biles trailed Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade 14.166 who won gold.
In her final routine of the Summer Games, Biles started with a significantly higher difficulty rating than her competitors, which helped her stay in podium position after she stepped out of bounds twice and was docked 0.6 points.
The medal came just hours after Biles finished a disappointing fifth in the balance beam final due to a fall. She had been aiming to win her eighth career gold medal in that event.
The U.S. women had a sterling performance in gymnastics in the Paris Games taking home gold in the all-around team final last Tuesday, followed by a gold for Biles and a bronze for Suni Lee in the individual all-around competition on Thursday.
Simone Biles of Team United States warms up prior to the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Balance Beam Final on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
(PARIS) — Team USA women’s gymnastics stars Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee came up empty in the balance beam final on Monday.
After Simone Biles secured her third gold medal of the Paris Olympics on Saturday, she and Lee both notched identical scores of 13.1000, which wasn’t enough to make the podium.
Italy’s Alice D’Amato secured gold with a 14.366, Yaqin Zhou of China scored 14.100 for silver, edging out Manila Esposito by just .1, who took bronze.
Lee, who earned her sixth career Olympic medal on Sunday with bronze in the uneven bars final, went third in the rotation and scored a 13.100.
Biles, who scored a 14.733 in qualifying, tied her teammate with the exact same score — 13.100 — due to a .3 point penalty.
The 10-time Olympic medalist will compete in the women’s floor exercise final back in Bercy Arena later on Monday, along with teammate Jordan Chiles.
(NEW YORK) — A woman who lost a leg in a shark attack is now heading to Paris to compete in the 2024 Paralympics.
“The 1st time I got back in [the water] was in July, a year ago,” Ali Truwit told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “I got back in with a floaty around my stomach because we weren’t sure how I was going to respond in the water again, and now I’m headed to the Paralympics.”
She added, “To represent my country is just an incredible kind of journey that makes me feel proud and also really grateful.”
Truwit said she was on a post-college graduation vacation with her best friend in Turks and Caicos in May 2023 when the attack occurred.
The two were out in the ocean snorkeling when a shark appeared “seemingly out of nowhere” and started to attack them, Truwit recalled.
“We fought back, but pretty quickly the shark had my leg in its mouth, and the next thing I knew, it had bitten off my foot and part of my leg,” she said.
Truwit said she and her friend had to swim roughly 75 yards back to the snorkeling boat.
Once on the boat, Truwit said her friend tied a tourniquet on her leg to stop the bleeding. Truwit was eventually airlifted to a hospital in Miami, where she underwent two lifesaving surgeries.
She was later transported to a hospital in New York to be closer to her family and friends at home, where she underwent a trans-tibial amputation on her left leg.
The surgery took place on May 31, 2023, Truwit’s 23rd birthday.
“Very dark days,” she recounted of that time in her life. “But I am alive, and that’s what I try to focus on and kind of just live the life that I’ve been given again to the fullest.”
Adapting to a new normal
After her amputation, a prosthetic leg helped provide Truwit with better mobility, although she said she still faced challenges adapting to her new normal.
“I’m relearning life without an ankle,” she explained. “I have to learn how to sit again and stand again, and walk again, and run, and how to do stairs and the everyday challenges.”
Truwit said she also faced pain in her leg as well as the risk of infection, and struggled emotionally in addition to the physical limitations.
“There are a lot of challenges for me with body image … learning to love my new body and accept it and learn that it’s beautiful in its own right,” she said. “And I think that’s been something that’s been so huge for me.”
Truwit described her recovery process as a “very long and bumpy road of ups and downs.”
She said she was able to pull through it with the help of family and friends and a shift in her own mindset.
“I think I really, early on, wanted to send myself the message that [what] would happen to me was not going to stop me from doing things I love and doing things I think I’m capable of,” she said.
Reclaiming her passion by fighting back her fear
The incident also affected Truwit’s love for water, which she said she had considered a place of comfort and peace her whole life.
In order to confront her fear, Truwit said she waded into her backyard pool just six weeks after having her leg amputated.
“Mentally and physically, it was really hard, [but] with the help of my physical therapists and my family, we worked to just get me back in, little by little,” she recalled.
From there, she began reaching out to her longtime coach Jamie Barone, who she said has been coaching her since she was 12. She said she asked him to help her run sets for exercise again.
After regaining her love of water, Truwit said she decided to test out her ability to make it to Paris for the Paralympics, which she said became “the most healing decision I could have made for my recovery.”
She expressed her intention to compete in the Paralympics to her mom, who she said is a former captain for the Yale University swimming team.
Through one of her mom’s former teammates, Truwit said she was connected to the U.S. Paralympic swim program, where she began to train and compete less than four months after her amputation surgery.
In June, Truwit competed in the Paralympic trials in Minneapolis and made the U.S. team in the Women’s 400-meter freestyle race.
In the weeks leading up to the Paralympic Games, which start on Aug. 28, Truwit said she has trained for as much as six hours per day, six days a week at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado and with her coach in Stamford at Chelsea Piers in Connecticut.
“It’s so fun to be with my teammates and the coaches and to learn more about what’s to come, so I’m really excited for it all,” she said. “I’m in a race with the American flag on my cap. That, to me, is not only a huge honor in itself, but also a way for me to thank the everyday American heroes who have helped save my life and help me rebuild my life.”
Swimming at the Paralympic Games will take place from Aug. 29 to Sept. 7.
Inspiring others through her journey
Prior to the shark attack, Truwit said she had always been a private person, but she later learned that sharing her story has helped others as well as herself.
“The exposure is new for me, and every time someone tells me that hearing my story helps them through their trauma, or watching my outlook or my mindset or the way that I bounce back has encouraged them, that they can do it too, that heals me,” she said. “That helps me. That gives meaning to me of an otherwise random trauma.”
Looking back at her journey, from the start of her recovery process to where she is today, Truwit said she has witnessed her own strength firsthand.
“We are so much stronger than we think,” she said. “We have so much more in us than we think we’re capable of contributing and achieving and aiming for … and that is such an exciting thought to me.”
Noah Lyles of the U.S celebrates winning the gold medal in the men’s 100m final at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Aug. 4, 2024. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(PARIS) — American sprinter Noah Lyles won the gold in the 100 meters at the Paris Olympics in a photo finish, edging out Jamaican Kishane Thompson for gold and taking the title of the world’s fastest man.
Lyles finished in 9.79 seconds — officially 9.784 — edging out Thompson by just .005 seconds for the gold. Thompson, after cruising through the qualifying rounds, was the favorite in the race.
Fellow American Fred Kerley took the bronze medal in 9.81 seconds.
Lyles set a personal best time of 9.79 seconds in the win. Thompson has a personal best of 9.77 seconds, but couldn’t match that in Paris.
Historically a slow starter, Lyles again had to run down the fastest starters. He had a reaction time of 0.178, tied for worst in the field. Kerley, however, had a race-best 0.108 reaction time, the fastest in the field and a big reason he was able to race onto the podium.
It was the first time an American had won the 100 meters since 2004 when Justin Gatlin took the title in Athens. It’s also the first time since 2004 that two Americans finished on the podium. Jamaica, led by world record holder Usain Bolt, had dominated the sprints for the last two decades.
Kerley, 29, had taken silver at the Tokyo Games and was looking to move up one spot on the podium. Instead, he settled for bronze with a season’s best time.
Lyles may have been the favorite going into Paris, but he’d looked like anything but a sure thing in the heats. He finished second in his opening race and said afterward he’d misjudged the speed of the field. He finished second again in the semifinal to Jamaican Oblique Seville, who cruised to a 9.81, while Lyles had to make up for a slow start as he qualified for the final with a 9.83.
Thompson had run a 9.80 in the semifinals — the fastest time of any of the qualifiers for the final — without even showing max effort.
The defending champion from Tokyo, Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, finished fifth with a time of 9.85. The time was a season’s best for Jacobs, who was a surprise winner in 2021 and hasn’t reached those heights in the three years since Tokyo.
Lyles was the defending world champion in the 100 meters from last year. He ran a 9.83 in the final in Budapest as he won gold.
It also took a run of just 9.83 seconds to win the U.S. trials earlier this summer.
Lyles, 27, has surged into the best in the world in the 100 meters after already establishing himself as the best at the 200 meters. Lyles has said his goal was to win double gold and the 100 meters was the hardest of those two. He won both 100 and 200 at the world championships in 2023.
The 200-meter heats begin Monday with the final on Aug. 8.
Lyles is also likely to compete in the 4×100 meter relay on Aug. 9 as he tries to complete a sweep of three golds like he did in Budapest at the world championships.
Sunisa Lee of Team United States competes during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Uneven Bars Final on day nine of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
(PARIS) — As the last to go, America’s Suni Lee knew what she needed to make the podium in the uneven bars final. She stepped up, hit her routine and took home her sixth career Olympic medal.
On Sunday, the 21-year-old Lee of Saint Paul, Minnesota, took home the bronze in the uneven bars final. Lee was the only American woman to qualify for the event. She scored a 14.800 to edge out Belgium’s Nina Derwael for the last spot on the podium.
Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour, the favorite, took gold with a 15.700. Qiyuan Qiu, of China, scored 15.500 for silver.
It was always going to be an uphill battle against Nemour and Qiu, who both had 7.2 start values for their routine. Lee’s routine had a start value of 6.4 in comparison. The win was a bit of redemption for Nemour, who was edged out for gold by Qiu at the 2023 world championship in uneven bars.
The French-born Nemour, just 17, received loud ovations throughout the competition. Nemour previously competed for France, but switched to Algeria, her father’s native country, after a disagreement with the French Gymnastics Federation.
This marks the third Olympic medal for Lee in Paris and her sixth Olympic medal overall. She took home the gold as part of the U.S. team in the all-around and bronze in the individual all-around.
She has a chance for one more medal in Paris and she hopes it will be gold. Lee will be competing in the balance beam final on Monday and is one of the favorites — along with teammate Simone Biles.
Lee also won the bronze medal for the uneven bars in 2021 at the delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Lee, who battled back from a debilitating kidney disease to make the team for Paris, earned a bronze medal in the individual all-around just two days after helping the U.S. earn its fourth gold medal in the team competition.
While Biles has sufficiently cemented her spot in sports history as the greatest of all time with a record-breaking 10 Olympic medals, this was the only individual event in which she did not compete during the Paris Games.
Despite earning the top all-around score in qualifying, Biles didn’t participate on the individual apparatus because she fell just one spot shy of the top eight in the uneven bars qualifying round last week.
Biles scored a 14.433, which was just two-tenths of a point behind Helen Kevric of Germany.
