Remember Nadia Comaneci, the Romanian woman gymnast who stunned the world with the first perfect 10 in history. That momentous feat on uneven bars was at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Comaneci, who emigrated to the United States, was at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday to watch Simone Biles vault into history as the most decorated gymnast.
Two days later, Biles faced the biggest challenge of her storied career when she took the floor for the final routine in the all-around competition. All eyes at the Bercy Arena were on Biles as she stood still in a blue leotard shimmering with Swarovski crystals.
Brazilian Rebeca Andrade stood between Biles and Olympic history. A win would make her only the third woman to win the all-around gold twice. Flashing her trademark smile, Biles set off with a tumbling pass and worked around the floor amid full-throated cheers from the crowd.
Narrowest win for Biles
Biles’s near two-point win was the smallest margin in a major international gymnastics event since her third world championship win in 2015.
The sixth Olympic gold and the second of the Paris Games was the American’s second all-around title. Biles, who won the first in the 1996 Rio Games, pulled out of the 2021 Tokyo Games to focus on her mental health after suffering from the “twisties” (temporary loss of spatial awareness that some gymnasts experience during complex routines).
Thursday’s gold was Biles’s 39th career medal between the Olympics (9) and world championships (30), as she continues to be the most successful gymnast in history. She overtook compatriot Shannon Miller on Tuesday while leading the US to the team gold.
Where does Biles rank in Olympic history?
Larisa Latynina (Soviet Union), who dominated gymnastics in the late fifties, heads the pack with 18 medals (9 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze). Biles is now fifth on the list with 9 medals (6 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze), the same as Comaneci ((5 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze). The American could rise to the second spot if she completes a sweep in Paris.
Comaneci and the East European domination of gymnastics are a mere memory now. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc in the early nineties, the world gymnastic map was redrawn. The United States became a gymnastic powerhouse when Bela Karloyi, Comaneci’s mentor and coach, moved to Texas. Mary Lou Retton was his first American prodigy, who leapt to the hearts of Americans in the 1984 Olympics.
Since then, American women have dominated Olympic gymnastics. In Paris, Biles’s all-around gold was the sixth in a row for the US after Sunisa Lee (2021), Biles (2016), Gabby Douglas (2012), Nastia Liukin (2008) and Carly Patterson (2004).
Third woman to win all-around gold twice
At 27, Biles became only the third woman in history to win the all-around gold twice, after Latynina (1956 and 1960) and Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia (1964 and 1968).
Born in Columbus, Ohio, Biles first tried her hand at gymnastics at age 6 and later enrolled on a training programme. Her elite gymnastics career began at age 14 at the 2011 American Classic in Houston.
Two years later, Biles was crowned all-around champion at the 2013 US National Gymnastics Championships, and since then, she has won all-around gold in all her competitions.
What makes Biles special?
Consistency has been her forte, but what marks Biles out as arguably the greatest woman gymnast is her ability to push the boundaries with her gravity-defying feats. Effortless elegance and grace have been hallmarks of her skills performed under tremendous pressure.
The American is heads and shoulders above the rest of the competition, says five-time Olympic gold medallist Comaneci, adding that nobody else comes close. “With the code of points in gymnastics right now, the difficulties that she has, the skills that she does, probably a lot of the guys cannot do that,” the Romanian-American told Olympic.com.
Dazzling and daring skills
Biles’s skills are the stuff of legends. Some of them are so daring that not many have tried it. The dazzling Yurchenko double pike on the vault is now called Biles II. It was never completed by a woman in competition, and few men have tried. Biles worked on it in 2021 and turned it into a showstopper last year.
Biles starts Yurchenko double pike on vault with a round-off back handspring onto the table, followed by two backward flips in pike position with her hands clasped to her knees.
“No, it’s not normal,” longtime coach Laurent Landi told the Associated Press after Biles executed it at the 2023 US Championships. “She’s not normal.”
Biles is extraordinary. A generational talent. Perhaps the greatest woman gymnast!
