Simone Biles has won a bronze medal in her extraordinary return to the Tokyo Olympics after withdrawing from several finals, citing a wish to protect her mental health.
The 24-year-old fought off a spatial awareness issue known as the ‘twisties’ to take third place on the women’s beam behind Chinese teenagers Chenchen Yuan and Tang Xijing.
It capped a remarkable return to centre stage for Biles, who had not competed since she withdrew early in the women’s team final last week. She subsequently pulled out of the first three of the four individual finals for which she had qualified, before reasoning that she was able to give it one last shot in the final women’s event of the Games.
The 🐐 got it done. @Simone_Biles returns to win bronze on beam. #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/oFe4MH3cMl
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 3, 2021
The latest medal takes her Olympic tally to a total of seven medals over the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games, making Biles the joint-most decorated American gymnast in history alongside Shannon Miller.
People flooded Twitter with congratulatory messages after Biles’s remarkable comeback.
Don’t let others define you. You define yourself.
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) August 3, 2021
On her own terms, @Simone_Biles returned and earned Olympic bronze.
Terrific to see you back out there, Simone.
Rooting for you, always. #Olympics #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/UMnOLVLH6H
SIMONE👏🏾 BILES👏🏾 *all the applause* So awesome to see you back up there! You have so much to be proud of! Your resilience is so inspiring! ♥️ @Simone_Biles 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
— Simone Manuel (@swimone) August 3, 2021
Simone Biles has often said the bronze she won on beam in Rio is the one she's proudest of.
— Will Graves (@WillGravesAP) August 3, 2021
Well ... now she's got two. And I imagine this one might even carry more weight than the first.
This moment is everything 😭 leaving the arena victorious with her head high and her fist in the air. Never been prouder of this queen she is undeniably a champion for so much more than her gymnastics #SimoneBiles pic.twitter.com/mzKnPJdJNV
— mic (@gymternerdy) August 3, 2021
For some reason, I am so moved by Simone Biles' bronze medal winning beam performance — perhaps even more than her previous golds. Because this one has such symbolic meaning: it symbolizes her perseverance against adversity! Go Simone! #SimoneBiles pic.twitter.com/0ox75ZGKpH
— Poor Lawyer (@poorlawyer) August 3, 2021
That #SimoneBiles bronze on beam was amazing to see and after the week she had is possibly her most important medal to date #gymnastics amazing 🤩
— Grainne Parker (@ParkerGrainne) August 3, 2021
#SimoneBiles winning Bronze in the Beam final after the last week or so is just amazing. It shows huge bravery & strength and proves she's an absolute champion in more ways than one.
— Adam Fare 💙 (@adamfare1996) August 3, 2021
Starting crying at 5:05am stopped at 5:55am. @Simone_Biles that was incredible. What you have done on and off the mat is historic.
— Liz Tigelaar (@liztigelaar) August 3, 2021
Not me crying at 3am watching #SimoneBiles #olympics
— Craig DeSaussure (@CraigDeSaussure) August 3, 2021
Emotional Wreck! What an absolute Queen! @Simone_Biles we salute you! 🤍 🐐 Never a doubt in my mind that you could do it! #Olympics
— Maxine_Rivers (@MaxineRivers15) August 3, 2021
Simone Biles takes Bronze at the Olympics and Gold in our hearts! The way she came back and fought her way through will never cease to amaze me- this is what perseverance looks like 🙌🏽 #SimoneBiles pic.twitter.com/2w1BYFMyDt
— Amira Daugherty (@AmiraUnplugged) August 3, 2021
😭😭😭 That was STUNNING @Simone_Biles !!!!
— Jonathan Van Ness (@jvn) August 3, 2021
Ahead of the Games, there were was a lot of expectation on Biles to equal or do better than her historic quadruple gold medal result from Rio in 2016.
Although she successfully qualified for all four individual finals, the sports star seemed out of sorts when she failed to execute her vault, resulting in Biles leaving the floor and withdrawing from the team.
Biles later confirmed she had pulled out due to “twisting”, and on social media explained: “It has never transferred to bars and beam for me.
“This time it’s literally in every event which sucks.“(You) literally cannot tell up from down. It’s the craziest feeling ever, not having an inch of control over your body.”
Beam is not being regarded as Biles’s greatest strength.
She’s won three world titles on the apparatus, including in Stuttgart in 2019, and won a bronze medal in Rio 2016.
Biles qualified seventh out of eight for the finals but was only 0.134 points behind her US team-mate Sunisa Lee, who qualified in third.
Her bronze medaling-winning score of 14.0 actually ended up being lower than her heat result of 14.006. Biles held second place for a while before winning bronze after Yuan, the highest qualifier, scored 14.633 to clinch gold.
