So that’s a wrap. Like a Katie Ledecky distance race, the result was no surprise, but the performance is something to behold. Three world titles, and now Olympic gold. Possibly the best ever. Thanks for joining us today, and if you’re in the USA, enjoy watching this tonight.
Simone Biles wins the all-round gold!
Biles gets 15.933. Her total is a staggering 62.198.
MEDALS: Biles (USA), Raisman (USA), Mustafina (RUS)
Top five scores:
Biles, USA: 62.198
Raisman, USA: 60.098
Mustafina, Russia: 58.665
Shang, China: 58.549
Black, Canada: 59.298
6th-10th: Wang (CHN), Lopez Arocha (VEN - didn’t see her at all on the feed), Teramoto (JPN), Thorsdottir (NED), Steingruber (SUI). Andrade (BRA) finished 11th, though the crowd might argue it for a while. Downie (GBR) takes 13th.
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Hugs all around. Some tears among the Russian contingent.
Raisman broke 60, passing Mustafina with ease. Downie drops to 12th and will drop again when Biles’ score is in, because Biles is ... well, Biles.Biles sticks landings on the floor like Phil Taylor sticks darts in the triple-20. Hand her the gold
Then we get Raisman’s score. She needed a 14.000. She got a 15.433. Only two gymnasts left. Belgium’s Nina Derwael will compete with very little attention. Now up on the floor -- Simone Biles, needing a 13.900 to take the crown everyone expects ...
GB’s Downie wobbles slightly on a tricky flip with half-twist, but everything else looks solid and controlled. Her dismount ... and she falls to her hands.
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“Big double layout,” Horton says as Raisman gets moving. She lays out, flips twice, nails the landing. She’s on the podium. 2012 is avenged. And she finishes just in time for us to see Downie on the beam ...
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At this point, Simone may be able to do her entire FX set out in the parking lot and still win.
— Will Graves (@WillGravesAP) August 11, 2016
.. that’s about the size of it. Raisman needs a 14.001 on floor to beat Mustafina and take a likely silver.Andrade gets a 13.766 on floor. The judges might want to duck from the crowd. Haven’t forgotten Ellie Downie, but the beam has bogged down once again. She’s up now, but so is Raisman, making her shot at silver. First tumbling run is marvelous.
That was a 13.800 for Steingruber. Not enough. Andrade, meanwhile, finishes with a flourish. The crowd loves it.
Steingruber on bars, where she needs 14.900 to overtake Mustafina. Bit of a hop on the landing, alarming commentator Kupets. Tutkhalian’s score from floor, meanwhile, flashes briefly. It was under 11. Next up is Andrade, who is out of medal contention. Andrade wows the crowd. Steingruber does not wow the judges. Her medal hopes are gone.
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So the clubhouse leaders are: Mustafina 58.665, Shang 58.549, Black (Canada) 58.298. But we still have Biles and Raisman to go on floor, and Steingruber on bars. Tutkhalian, meanwhile, tumbles out of bounds on the floor. Not her day.
Here’s Mustafina now, trying to nail down a spot on the podium. She looks more confident on the floor than she did on the beam. Last run goes high into the air, and she barely stays in bounds. Should be in good shape. Might be the quietest bunch of Brazilians ever recorded here as we await Mustafina’s floor score. And it’s ... it’s ... 13.933?
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So the good news for Steingruber -- she blew away her qualifying score on beam and is slightly up on the other two. The bad news: She only got a 13.900 on bars, her last discipline, in qualifying.
Standings after three of four rotations
Biles 46.265
Mustafina 44.732
Raisman 44.665
Steingruber 43.765
Tutkhalian 43.699
Have to go back to see how Steingruber snuck in there. But projections, not including Steingruber, are ... Biles 61.948, Raisman 59.940, Mustafina 58.798, Shang 58.616
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That’s a 14.866 for Raisman. Slightly up from qualifying, slightly under the team event. That’ll do. Number-crunching now ...
Raisman on the beam, the last gymnast in this rotation. Nerve-wracking stuff now. Can’t imagine how she handles nerves. I nearly fell off the couch. Raisman on the beam, the last gymnast in this rotation. Nerve-wracking stuff now. Can’t imagine how she handles nerves. I nearly fell off the couch.
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Andrade, still very much in medal contention, starts her beam routine with a painful-looking split. She wobbles a bit -- it’s as if she can’t quite contain her nervous energy. Fun to watch, but judges may mark her off a bit. Landing isn’t bad, though.
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Britain’s Downie up on uneven bars now, trying to continue an improbable charge toward the podium. She comes very close to touching the floor but keeps her feet off. She does not, though, keep her feet on the landing, falling to her knees. That, sadly, will probably knock out any chance she had of getting a medal.
Tutkhalian had a nice beam routine going, but she landed on her heels and tumbled onto her back. I don’t have the Code of Points memorized, but I think that’s a deduction.
Shang and Downie are now two points above their qualifying scores through three rotations. Will that put them in contention? Will do the numbers soon. 13.866 for Mustafina. Actually better than she did in qualifying, where she fell, but not good.
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Wang Yan is next on beam. No major problems but not close to Biles’ difficulty: 14.666. Eythora Thorsdottir, sounds Icelandic but is actually competing for the Netherlands, gets a 14.533 on floor, well above her qualifying score. Mustafina up on beam now. Wobbles a couple of times. Big run coming up, and ... she stopped partway through it. Courtney Kupets on commentary says Mustafina was supposed to do a connected series but didn’t, like a figure skater stepping out of a triple-double combination.
And the score is up for Biles ... 15.433. Again off from qualifying but ahead of her team competition.
Halfway scores with projections: pic.twitter.com/XAUL95Kcrt
— Beau Dure (@duresport) August 11, 2016
Jonathan Horton commentary: “If Simone Biles gets through this routine without falling, she’s the Olympic champion.” She’s first up. Here we go ... Biles with her 2 1/2 “wolf turn,” which looks like something Michael Jackson would’ve done. A little wobble after her first flip, but she’s OK. No trouble with her next big pass. Dismount is pretty. Not AS smooth as her qualifying or team routines, but that should be enough to drop Mustafina. Here’s an analysis at the halfway point
Quick glance at how AA final scores compare with qualifying: pic.twitter.com/NNLTPogZYN
— Beau Dure (@duresport) August 11, 2016
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Scores at halfway point
Mustafina 30.866
Biles 30.832
Tutkhalian 29.899
Raisman 29.799
Andrade 29.599
Shang 29.433
Downie 29.400
Mustafina does indeed lead Biles at the halfway mark. But Mustafina has done her best event. Biles has two big ones to come. US fans might want to worry a bit more about Raisman. Full leaderboard to come when the floor exercise wraps up in a few minutes.
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Odd culture clash here. The Brazilian crowd rallies behind Andrade on the uneven bars while someone does a floor exercise to Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Andrade avoids falling, sometimes not by much, and the crowd loves it.
Oh dear. We have not seen this on the feed.
Tough moment for Brazil's Jade Barbosa, massive crowd favorite, who injures ankle in floor routine. She's in tears, crowd chants her name.
— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) August 11, 2016
Shang Chunsong is up nearly a full point on her qualifying score after two rotations. Meanwhile, Mustafina’s 15.666 on bars is not quite up to her qualifying standard.
Here goes Mustafina. She looks like she’s about to kill something with a bow and arrow as she attacks the bars. The routine goes quickly, and it’s hard to read her face as she leaves. Good future in poker.
China’s Wang Yan didn’t stick her bars routine in qualifying, scoring 13.9 and not attempting it in the team event. This looks better. Solid landing. But it’s LOWER – 13.733. Tougher judging today? Or just not enough difficulty in the routine? She didn’t get the hang time of Biles or Raisman but seemed fluid.Meanwhile, teammate Shang Chensong has forgotten all about her wayward qualification effort. She’s a picture of precision on the floor exercise.
Remember: This is Biles’ weakest event. Might not beat Mustafina here but wants to limit the damage. And she won’t be returning to this in the apparatus finals. 14.966, actually just a hair lower than the 15 from qualifying but good enough.
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Downie, meanwhile, got a 15.100 on vault, splitting the difference between her qualifying and team scores. BILES SMILES! Her bars routine looks fluid, and she lands like she dropped to earth from a planet where people land perfectly. Hug from still-disappointed Raisman as she departs.
14.166 for Raisman. Well off her qualifying score. The technical explanation:
Raisman gets through a hit set on the bars - lots of swing out of the Jaeger. Didn't connect the stalder full to Ray. Small hop. 14.166
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) August 11, 2016
#FinalFive-rs Douglas, Hernandez, Kocian here. Crazy that GD-2nd at worlds '15, 3rd here at prelims-must sit out AA pic.twitter.com/hzO4I31fp0
— Nick McCarvel (@NickMcCarvel) August 11, 2016
Ellie Downie starts the second rotation, racing down the runway, feet slightly apart in flight but sticks the landing. Aly Raisman takes to the bars. Gets big air on her releases. If I tried to catch myself doing something like that, I’d separate a shoulder.And her landing is nearly perfect, but she doesn’t seem too happy as she departs the mat.
Scores after the first rotation
Top 5 after 1st rotation:
— GNN Team (@GNNgymnastnews) August 11, 2016
🇺🇸Biles 15.866
🇺🇸Raisman 15.633
🇧🇷Andrade 15.566
🇩🇪Seitz 15.233
🇷🇺Mustafina 15.200#gnn #gymnastslivehere
... Seitz is the only gymnast of that group that did not start on vault.
The international feed suddenly decides to fill this gap in the action with GB’s Downie’s floor exercise. She has bounced back quite well from an injury in qualification and looks confident here. A couple of hops on her landings but little else to note. 12.500 in qualifying, 14.133 in team, 14.300 here. One of the few gymnasts to improve on her qualifying score in the first routine.
We’re all ready to rotate. The top contenders go to uneven bars next. That’s where Mustafina could actually take the lead over Biles and Raisman.
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Here’s the word on Shang:
Shang's in the 3rd group b/c she botched her vault during qualifying. But man, she drilled that vault.
— Will Graves (@WillGravesAP) August 11, 2016
Still waiting on the balance beam to wrap up. The group that ranked 7th-12th in qualifying has just finished on the uneven bars, with Germany’s Elisabeth Seitz setting the pace at 15.233. And if you want to pretend you’re in Brazil, you could try cooking this:
... 14.833. Not the stratospheric scores we’ve seen elsewhere, but more than a point ahead of everyone else who has attempted the beam so far.
Russia’s Tutkhalian goes last. Just not as impressive as the favorites. 14.866. That’s it for the vault, which is always the fastest of the apparati. Hope we’ll get a look elsewhere. Getting a look now at Shang Chunsong, one of the favorites coming in but well off the pace in qualifying, thanks in part to a 12.766 on the vault. She has been better on the beam, and this looks fluid. Lovely spin, confident flips. And just a small hop on the landing. That was very good. Judges say ...
It’s a 15.2 for Mustafina. Will that help her keep pace? Scores from elsewhere: GB’s Downie improved on her qualifying and team scores on the floor, posting 14.300. Russia’s Tutkhalian goes last. Just not as impressive as the favorites. 14.866. That’s it for the vault, which is always the fastest of the apparati. Hope we’ll get a look elsewhere.
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China’s Wang, who looks much younger than her 16 years, has an awkward landing. 14.733, off 0.2 from her qualifying score. The two Russians finish up our first vault rotation. Now it’s Aliya Mustafina, possibly the only person with a real chance of catching Biles if she stumbles. And her landing is nigh flawless. Game on?
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And here she is ... Simone Biles. And it’s not perfect! Her spring isn’t as high as it often is. She hops forward and steps on the landing. She got an unworldly 16.000 in qualifying. Today, 15.866. So even a wobbly landing from Biles barely eats into her margin.
Aly Raisman up now on the vault ... one of the few vaulters who finishes faces forward, and she hops on the finish. But it looks graceful. She had a 15.766 in qualifying and a 15.833 in the team event. Today? 15.633.
And we’re off, with home favorite Rebeca Andrade flipping up and over the vault. Nice in the air, but the landing was off, with a hop backwards and to the right. She’s just 17. And she’s smiling. And the judges are generous – 15.566! That matches her score from qualification, where this was her best event.
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Commentators note these women have been training since age six, five, maybe four. If you’re looking for a sport to take up in your 30s and have a shot at the Olympics, this is not it.
Introductions have finished. Warmup time. Closeup of Biles’ eye shadow, which has a reckless amount of glitter. But she does a quick warmup vault that looks flawless as always.
NBC says Biles improved her scores from the individual qualification to the team event in EVERY discipline. That’s actually not the case. But she was the class of the field each afternoon.
Historical data on Biles while we watch the introductions:
History at stake tonight: #USA could become 1st to win 4-straight Oly AA titles, Biles 1st women's World Champ to defend since Podkopayeva.
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) August 11, 2016
Some of the qualifiers outside the top six – Canada’s Isabela Onyshko and Elsabeth Black, Japan’s Mai Murakami and Asuka Teramota, Britain’s Ellie Downie. We’ll try to keep an eye on them as well.
Seven minutes and counting. Start your browsers. Leave work. Whatever you have to do. This will be worth it. You’ll either see spectacular performances by one of the all-time greats or the biggest upset in gymnastics history.
Your start times for today:
Start list for today's women's individual all-around final (3 p.m. ET). Vault, bars, beam, floor for Simone Biles. pic.twitter.com/cS0kA2i5wR
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) August 11, 2016
The six top qualifiers will go through the apparatus rotation as a group. One story to watch: How will Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade fare alongside the powerhouse Americans, Russians and China’s Wang Yan?
If you want to know how they fared in qualifying, check this handy chart. Just know that both Americans are weakest on bars and strongest on floor or vault.
Just 30 min until the Women's All-around final in #ArtisticGymnastics at #Rio2016 begins! Here's who has qualified: pic.twitter.com/9KFzAQ9XA7
— FIG (@gymnastics) August 11, 2016
Preamble
Hello, and welcome to one of the most-anticipated events of these Games, the women’s all-around gymnastics.
Some events at the Olympics are wide-open. Cycling road races turn on the whims of the peloton or the mechanical sturdiness of one’s bike. Any of the top 15 fencers can medal on a given day.
This is not one of those events. The all-around is akin to weightlifting, in which only a handful of athletes will even attempt a medal-winning performance. Difficulty is a big part of the scoring, so if you’re only the 12th-best gymnast in the world, you have to hit all your own routines while hoping the seven to eight people trying more difficult routines flop on the mat.
The top non-American gymnast in qualifying was from the home country – Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade. She’ll have a legitimate shot at the podium, but the two Russians behind her, Seda Tutkhalian and Aliya Mustafina, are capable as well.
But this is, in the most literal sense, the Americans’ event to lose. Consider the qualifying score: Simone Biles 62.366, Aly Raisman 60.607, Andrade 58.732. Those are larger margins than they appear – the gap from third to 30th was smaller than gap from first to third.
If you’re in the United States and don’t want the results spoiled before you see them on NBC tonight, you’ll have to stop reading now. Better yet, just open up the live stream in another browser window. Choose the general “women’s all-around final” stream to get the lively commentary – not the same stuff you’ll hear tonight on NBC, but some entertaining and informative former Olympians Jonathan Horton and Courtney Kupets Carter. We won’t tell your boss.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, read why Simone Biles is making us think again:
The Biles back story is an uplifting tale of a fostered child brought up in modest circumstances by a grandfather who indulged her drive to succeed. In terms of her impact on the sport, she represents something else: a return of the quest for perfection.
This is the aspect that lifts gymnastics from the sweaty floormats into the philosophical – the search for the perfect routine, balanced between artistry and athletic achievement. In athletics, the four-minute mile and the 10-second 100 metres sprint were once the equivalent ultimate goals. In clock-timed sports, the difference of a split second makes scoring easier. Ice-skating allows for individual differences between judges (older readers will remember the East German judge jokes for giving low scores to any other nations). Gymnastics aggregates scores between the judges on two separate panels to come to final result, often with a fair bit of arguing.
