Simone Biles claimed her 11th career Olympic Games medal – but was denied gold in a dramatic floor final that featured a late change to medal positions.
Biles produced a blistering routine, but her gravity-defying tumbles meant she twice stepped beyond the boundaries of the floor, resulting in 0.6 points of deductions to fall agonzingly short of gold-medal-winning Rebeca Andrade.
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Earlier on Monday afternoon, Biles had fallen off the balance beam during her routine, had to settle for fifth place and fumed at a noisy crowd and much-delayed score delivery from the judges.
However just a couple of hours later at the Bercy Arena – in front of Tom Brady – Biles was all smiles in what was her last performance of the Games, and perhaps her Olympic career.
She was denied gold by the woman she said had pushed her closer than she had every been pushed during the all-around final.
The 27-year-old superstar put all the drama of earlier in the day behind her and was all smiles as a fine routine left the crowd on their feet.
But the judges had no choice but to apply deductions for a final score of 14.133 – without them it would have been an eighth career Olympic gold medal.
“I think Rebeca got this one,” Biles appeared to say as she awaited the score.
Confirmation of silver was confirmed when Biles US teammate Jordan Chiles score was corrected after an inquiry.
Romania’s Ana Barbosa had been celebrating bronze but following the appeal and a change to the score, Chiles made it two Americans on the podium.
It is just the second Olympic silver of Biles career after second place in the team event in Tokyo – and in many ways it was all the more remarkable as reports from the arena suggested she had suffered a fall in her final warm-up.
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As for the champion, Andrade has been a huge fan favorite and going second of the nine finalists, the Brazilian had set the early pace with a score of 14.166.
While Biles’ loaded routine – which carried a 6.8 degree of difficulty – pushed her close, it was the Brazilian who claimed a deserved gold.
Biles had won the floor final in Rio in 2016 but missed out after withdrawing from the delayed Tokyo Olympics with the ‘twistys.’
That finish three years ago had led Biles on a comeback that she has described as her ‘redemption tour’ and despite the beam disappointment, her performances underlined her status as one of the world’s best athletes – endorsed by LeBron James.
Already in Paris she has drawn crowds that have included Serena Williams, Tom Cruise and Snoop Dogg – and set social media ablaze with her performances and her revelations that she can’t even head out into the Olympic Village such is the demand from fellow athletes.
Earlier in the Games she won the individual and team all-around events, and the vault gold medal – which saw her celebrate with a spectacular GOAT necklace.
Her status as one of the greatest of all time was never in doubt, and her Paris performance has only added to her legend as she leaves with 11 Olympic medals.
Seven gold, two silver and two bronze is a phenomenal collection, and there remains a possibility that she could return in four years at a home game in Los Angeles to add to the total.
“Never say never,” Biles said after her gold medal in the vault on Saturday.
“Next Olympics are at home. So you just never know. I am getting really old.”