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Tokyo — As always, Americans have won the podium in the women’s Olympic gymnastics.
Sunisa Lee will be the fifth American woman to win the Olympic title on Thursday, defending champion Simone Biles from the stand and edging Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade in an entertaining and fierce final. Did.
Lee’s total of 57.433 points surpasses Andrade, who missed the gold medal when Latin American athletes won their first gymnastics all-round medal but stepped out of bounds twice during the floor routine. Was just enough. Russian gymnast Angelina Melnikova won the bronze medal two days after leading the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to the gold medal in the team final.
Lee and the Americans won silver at the event. Biles withdrew after a full turn when he determined he was not mentally ready to compete.
Biles also chose to withdraw from the all-round final, making it an unpleasant sight for the greatest gymnast ever to watch the biggest tournament in five years from the stand, alongside teammates Grace McCallum, Jordan Chiles and Mikaila Skinner. I was connected. ..
The absence of 24-year-old Biles created an opportunity that the 24 women who stood on the floor at the Ariake Gymnasium, when they landed in Tokyo earlier this month, thought it was probably impossible. A legal shot at the top of the podium. Biles has won all major international competitions since 2013, with the exception of the 2017 World Championships, which took off the year after the victory in Rio de Janeiro five years ago.
But when Lee, Andrade, and other candidates were tense, it was rarely shown. Andrade’s nearly perfect chamber gave her an early lead, but Lee approached with her stunning uneven bars set, the most difficult of the competition today. rice field.
Lee, an 18-year-old Hmong-American from Minnesota, went through a nervous balance beam routine. She almost came off while performing a wolf’s turn (basically a sitting spin) and basically had to sucker her toes to a 4-inch wooden slab. Her score of 13.833 sent her to a floor exercise in front of Andrade.
First, Lee chose a routine that used three tumbling passes instead of four. I hope a better run will negate the potential tenth of giving up by not doing the fourth pass. Her 13.700 was stable, but left the door to Andrade.
Two years after the third surgery to repair a torn knee ACL, a 21-year-old Brazilian won the candidate’s highest floor score in qualifying. Still, she bounced out of bounds with both feet at the end of her first tumbling pass. And her right foot descended from the white mat and onto the surrounding blue carpet.
Needing 13.802 to win, she received 13.666 instead, expanding US dominance at one of the Olympic marquee events. Since Carly Patterson won the 2004 Athens Olympics, Americans have won each Olympic final.
Biles was strongly encouraged to extend its streak before opting out. Lee Seung-yuop, who hurt his ankle at the US Championship last month, was dragging his foot. She actually defeated Biles on the second night of the Olympic trial at the end of June.
A month later, she realized she was standing on the podium as one of the new faces of the sport.
Jade Carey, who replaced Biles in the US team final, finished in 9th place.
Will graves
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