In Tokyo four years ago, they missed out on the gold and got ridiculed by the media. Now, the US women’s gymnastics team has come back with a vengeance and redeemed themselves. Led by Simone Biles, the team – also consisting of Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and newcomer Hezly Rivera – bested Italy and Brazil to clinch the much-coveted gold on Tuesday’s final.
With this victory, Team USA’s women’s team has now secured gold medals four times. They previously won in Atlanta 1996, London 2012 and Rio 2016. They also extended their medal-winning streak that stretched back to Barcelona 1992, an impressive 32-year, 9-Olympics run.
The win feels extra special for the whole team, especially Biles. During the mid-pandemic Tokyo Olympics, Biles’s underperformance and subsequent withdrawal from the competition to prioritize her mental health were blamed for the team’s silver finish. Tuesday’s result was undoubtedly more than enough to silence the naysayers.
Heading into the Olympics, the team was under so much pressure. During the Olympics trial in Minnesota, Biles called Paris “the redemption tour.”
“I feel like we all have more to give and our Tokyo performances weren’t the best,” said Biles. “We weren’t under the best circumstances, either, but I feel like we have a lot of weight on our shoulders to go out there and prove that we’re better athletes.”
Then in July, former US gymnast Mykayla Skinner made a controversial statement that the current team’s “talent and depth isn’t what it used to be” and that they “just don’t have the work ethic.” She quickly apologized for the remark, but it seemed that Biles took notice. In her Instagram post celebrating the women’s team’s gold medal, the caption reads: “Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions”, seemingly a jibe to Skinner.
Regardless, Biles still got the last laugh. With eight medals, she’s now the most decorated American gymnast in the Olympics’ history. And she may yet add another, facing off teammate Lee in the all-around final on Thursday.