US’ Simone Biles (R) and teammates celebrate after team USA won the artistic gymnastics women’s team final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP) (Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)
With Biles at her show-stopping best, the Americans’ total of 171.296 was well clear of Italy and Brazil and the exclamation point of a yearlong run in which Biles has cemented her legacy as the greatest ever in her sport, and among the best in the history of the Olympics.
The outcome — the Americans on top with the rest of the world looking up — was not in doubt from the moment Jordan Chiles began the night by drilling her double-twisting Yurchenko vault.
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: (L-R) Jade Carey, Sunisa Lee, Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles and Hezly Rivera of Team United States celebrate during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Members of Team United States celebrate after Simone Biles’ routine in the floor exercise during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Sunisa Lee (L) and Jordan Chiles (R) of Team United States celebrate with the national flag after winning the gold medals during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: (L-R) Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Simone Biles, Jade Carey and Sunisa Lee of Team United States celebrate during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Parents of Simone Biles of Team United States Nellie and Ronald Biles kiss as the Team United States wins the gold medal during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Simone Biles of Team United States competes on the vault during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Simone Biles of Team United States reacts during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Simone Biles of Team United States reacts after competing on the vault during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Simone Biles of Team United States reacts after competing on the vault during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Simone Biles of Team United States competes on the vault during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Simone Biles of Team United States reacts with her coach Laurent Landi after competing on the vault during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Jordan Chiles of Team United States looks on during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: (L-R) Sunisa Lee, Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera, Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles of Team United States look on during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: Spike Lee is seen during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Team USA poses ahead of the start of the artistic gymnastics women’s team final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP) (Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT – US’ Simone Biles competes in the vault event of the artistic gymnastics women’s team final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP) (Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)
President of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics Organising Committee (Cojo) Tony Estanguet (2ndL) and US former tennis player Serena Williams (C) wait for the start of the artistic gymnastics women’s team final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Loic VENANCE / AFP) (Photo by LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)
US’ Jade Carey competes in the floor exercise event of the artistic gymnastics women’s team final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP) (Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)
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PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 30: (L-R) Jade Carey, Sunisa Lee, Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles and Hezly Rivera of Team United States celebrate during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
By the time Biles, the left calf that bothered her during qualifying heavily taped, stepped onto the floor for the final event — a floor exercise set to music by Taylor Swift and Beyonce — her fifth Olympic gold medal was well in hand.
The 27-year-old provided the exclamation point anyway, sealing the Americans’ third gold in its last four trips to the Games.
The Americans remain peerless (if not flawless, this is gymnastics after all) when at their best.
And over two hours in front of a crowd that included everyone from tennis great Serena Williams and actor Natalie Portman to Biles’ husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, Biles left little doubt about anything.
Her status as the sport’s greatest of all time. Her ability to move past the “twisties” that derailed her in Tokyo. Her spot in the pantheon of the U.S. Olympic movement.
Three years after removing herself from the same competition to protect herself — a decision that changed the conversation around mental health in sports — Biles pushed her medal total in major competition to a staggering 38 and counting.
Yet her return to the Games wasn’t so much about winning. It was about a joy she had lost somewhere along the way.
It seems to have returned. She leaned into the crowd that roared at every flip, every leap and, yes, every twist. With her husband — on break from NFL training camp — waving an American flag while sitting next to her parents, Biles did what she has done so well for so long save for a couple of difficult days in Japan during a pandemic: she dominated.
Yet the 27-year-old hardly did it alone. Lee and Chiles were on the team that earned silver in Tokyo with Biles watching from the sideline. They navigated a series of setbacks both physical and personal to return to this moment and get the gold they so badly wanted.
And there they were on the biggest stage, Chiles doing all four rotations right next to her good friend Biles while doubling as the U.S.’s hype woman. Lee mixing her elegance with grit while dazzling on beam and uneven bars, her two best events.
Carey won the floor exercise in Tokyo, but did it with an asterisk of sorts. She’s earned her way in through a nominative process the sport’s governing body has since abandoned. She was with Team USA in Tokyo but not actually part of the official four-woman squad.
She vowed to write a different ending this time, and the Cheng vault she did on the first rotation scored a 14.800 — second only to Biles — to give the U.S. a commanding lead before Biles even saluted the judges.
The only real drama centered on who would finish next to the Americans on the medal stand.
Italy, which was a surprising second to the U.S. during qualifying, earned its first Olympic team medal since 1928 by holding off Brazil, which took bronze for its first medal in the biggest event in the sport.
