"Really chewed up"

Biles falls off the beam – no Olympic record

Simone Biles did not have her best day.

(Bild: AFP/APA/Gabriel BOUYS)

"You can tell she's really upset," said Eurosport expert Fabian Hambüchen. What happened early on Monday afternoon is indeed a rarity: gymnastics superstar Simone Biles fell off the beam. She later went on to win silver, but the Olympic record is still gone.

Of course, there are worse results - but for Simone Biles it is probably a real disappointment. Instead of gold medals number four and five, the American had to settle for fifth place on Monday and then two, i.e. the silver medal. By early afternoon it was clear that the Olympic record of five golds was gone. Biles fell off the balance beam, had to remount and had no chance of reaching the medal ranks. Afterwards, she was visibly annoyed - which is also rare - and was at odds with herself and the audience.

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"Not my best performances"
"Of course it wasn't my best performance," admitted Biles. But she was by no means overly disappointed. The 2021 Olympics in Tokyo may have played a role in this, when the exceptional gymnast dropped out of the team final after a failed vault and only competed on the balance beam (bronze). Biles explained this at the time with mental problems. At the time, she said that she could not have expected to be back at the Olympic Games.

Biles (right) was not amused after her performance on the beam.

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Two over-steps
About two hours later, Biles had a conciliatory (if not 100 percent happy) end to the Olympics: The 27-year-old won silver in the floor final. However, with two overshoots, she also made too many mistakes on the floor for gold and received 14.133 points from the judges despite performing by far the most difficult routine of all the participants - 0.033 less than the Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, who was crowned Olympic champion on the floor for the first time.

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Biles was nevertheless delighted - not so much with her own silver medal, but almost more with the bronze of her US colleague Jordan Chiles.

Simone Biles (left) celebrates with her colleague Jordan Chiles, who is crying with happiness

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The Olympic Games are over for Biles. Presumably with mixed feelings.

At 27 years old, Biles is the oldest Olympic champion in women's gymnastics since 1952. And the athlete, who is only 1.42 m tall, has not ruled out taking part in the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.