MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — They all had a reason to come back. Every single one of them.
Simone Biles will move past those harrowing two weeks in Japan three years ago, when the gymnastics superstar prioritized her mental health and safety over fame, a decision that inspired some and infuriated others.
Suni Lee wants to prove — perhaps more than anything — that the all-around gold medal she won while Biles watched from the stands was no fluke.
Jordan Chiles will turn the team silver she helped win at the 2020 Games into gold.
Jade Carey will officially be a member of the five-woman Olympic team after earning her spot in Tokyo as an individual qualifier, a path that was not available to the United States this time around and, frankly, a path that She had no desire to explore again anyway.
They all return to the unique spotlight — oh, and also 16-year-old newcomer Hezly Rivera — that only the sport’s biggest stage can provide.
Their reasons are deeply personal. But their motivation is not.
“This is really our redemption tour,” Biles said after winning the U.S. Olympic qualifier for the third time on Sunday night. “I feel like we all have more to give. »
No one is more gifted than Biles, who, at 27, is the oldest American to join an Olympic gymnastics team since the 1950s. She never expected to still be doing the job almost a decade later becoming a sensation at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
And here she is. Still working. Still pushing. Not to silence the critics who continue to flood her social media mentions wondering if she’ll “quit” again, but because she remains determined to make the most of her remarkable talent.
“No one is forcing me to do it,” said Biles, who posted a two-day total of 117.225 to win the all-around by nearly six points over Lee. “I wake up every day and I choose to work out at the gym and come out here and perform myself. Just to remind myself that I can still do it.
And do it at a level that no one else in her sport – and when she’s at her best, perhaps in sport in general – can match.
Since Biles returned from a two-year break last summer, she never really doubted a trip to France. In the past 12 months, she won a sixth world all-around title and her eighth and ninth national championships – both records – while performing the most difficult gymnastics of her life.
She will be a big favourite when she steps on the pitch at Bercy Arena, even if she still has a lot of work to do before the women’s qualifiers on 28 July. However, there are things to sort out over the next four weeks.
Biles fell back after landing her Yurchenko double pike, a testament to both the difficulty of the jump and the immense power she generates during a skill that few male gymnasts attempt and even fewer pull off as cleanly .
She jumped off the beam after failing to land her side vault, though she wasn’t as frustrated as she was during a botched performance Friday that left her uttering an expletive for the world to see.
Biles finished in style on a floor exercise, her signature event. Although there was a small step out of bounds, there was also unparalleled world-class tumbling that has recently attracted attention. of pop star Taylor Swiftwhose song “Ready For It” opens Biles’ routine.
She stepped off the podium to a standing ovation, then sat atop the steps to enjoy what could be her last competitive round on American soil for quite a while. Maybe never.
Biles has sidestepped questions about what lies ahead. It can wait. It’s been a long, winding road to get back to this moment. She intends to try to enjoy it even though she’s part of a team that will have “a lot of weight on its shoulders.”
She believes she and her teammates are in a better position to deal with it. That’s what lasts.
“It’s really nice that Tokyo gave us this opportunity to open up this stage for this conference,” Biles said. “And so I think now the athletes are a little bit more tuned in and we’re just trusting what our gut is telling us.”
And Biles’ instincts told her that if she wanted to come back, she had to do it on her terms. This meant taking intentional steps to ensure that her life was no longer defined by her gymnastics.
She married Chicago Bears guard Jonathan Owens in the spring of 2023 and the two are building a house in the northern suburbs of Houston that they hope to move into soon after Biles returns from Paris.
Biles heads to France as perhaps the face of the American Olympic movement, even though she is well aware that the millions watching next month will be watching to see if the demons that derailed her in Tokyo resurface.
And while there are still moments of anxiety — including at last year’s world championships — she has put safeguards in place to protect herself. She meets with a therapist every week, even during competition season, something she didn’t do in preparation for the 2020 Games.
The Americans will take their oldest women’s team ever to the games, as Biles’ unrivaled longevity — she hasn’t lost a competition she started and finished since 2013 — and the relaxation of rules regarding the name, image and likeness at the NCAA level allowed this. Carey (24), Chiles (23) and Lee (21) will continue to compete while enjoying their newfound fame.
They drew on that experience in a sometimes grueling competition that saw the main contenders Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely And Kayla DiCello they came out with leg injuries that ruled them out of the mix weeks before the potential realization of a lifelong dream.
Watching good friends leave the arena in tears reminded us how thin the line between succeeding and failing can be. Biles has been on the right side of that line for longer than she anticipated. She’s going to try to make the most of it, with the pressure and all.
She may have gotten a head start in 2021. She intends to not let that happen this time around.
“I feel like success is what I make it,” she said. “I feel like at the moment I managed to participate in the Olympic trials and be part of the Paris Olympic team. So we’ll see from there.
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PA Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paris-olympics-2024