'She did so-so': Simone Biles' dad jokes after gold medal performance at Paris Olympics
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The United States women's gymnastics team flexed its muscles again Thursday at Bercy Arena, placing two on the podium in the all-around competition with Simone Biles edging Brazil's Rebeca Andrade for gold at the Paris Olympics.
It's Biles' sixth Olympic gold medal and ninth overall, and as fans were exiting the building, Nexstar's Jala Washington caught up with Biles' father Ronald. He offered a playful assessment of how his daughter did.
"She did so-so," he joked. "No, she did great. She did great."
Red, white and blue were all over the plaza after Biles reclaimed the Olympic throne after withdrawing from competition during the 2020 Tokyo Games. The all-around champion at Tokyo, American Suni Lee, finished with the bronze medal in Paris. It's the first time in history that two Olympic champions have been on the same podium. Biles won the all-around at the 2016 Rio Games and an American has won the women's all-around championship for six consecutive Games.
Biles connected on her signature Yurchenko double pike vault to set the tone early in the competition, but Andrade didn't back down and put together a steady performance, briefly holding the lead after the second rotation. Biles made a small mistake on the uneven bars to crack the door open slightly for Andrade, but in the end, Biles slammed it shut like she typically does. She turned in the best balance beam routine and the only 15-point floor exercise performance of the meet that brought fans to life.
Simone Biles' all-around competition scores (event placing in parentheses)
- Vault: 15.766 (1st)
- Uneven Bars: 13.733 (17th)
- Balance Beam: 14.566 (1st)
- Floor Exercise: 15.066 (1st)
Suni Lee's all-around competition scores
- Vault: 13.933 (7th)
- Uneven Bars: 14.866 (2nd)
- Balance Beam: 14.000 (8th)
- Floor Exercise: 13.666 (4th)
Apparatus finals begin Saturday and go through Monday.