Triumphant Simone Biles leads USA to Olympic gymnastics team gold

The USA's star gymnast Simone Biles on Tuesday claimed her redemption after her disappointing exit from the 2021 Tokyo games by leading her team to a wide victory ahead of Italy, with Brazil taking bronze.

Simone Biles led the United States to a dominant victory in the women's gymnastics team final on Tuesday, laying the ghosts of Tokyo to rest as she claimed a fifth career Olympic gold medal.

Three years after Biles battled a disorientating mental block in Tokyo, pulling out of the team final in which the United States settled for silver, she and teammates Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Sunisa Lee led wire-to-wire in reclaiming gold ahead of Italy, with Brazil taking bronze.

The Americans already had gold in hand when Biles electrified the Bercy Arena crowd with a gravity-defying floor routine that featured two of her signature skills -- a double back flip with a half twist and the "triple-double" of two back flips with three twists.

The United States combined for the highest score on all four apparatus for a total of 171.296 points and a whopping 5.802-point margin over Italy.

Italy won silver in 1928, but their best result in the modern era was fourth in Tokyo.

(AFP)