Reuters
Rio de Janeiro, August 12: As Simone Biles stood locked in a tight embrace with her teammate Aly Raisman, waiting for her final score to come up on the big screen, the concerned look in her eyes suggested she had no idea who would be crowned Olympic all-around champion.
The American, however, was the only one still in the dark in the brightly lit Rio Olympic Arena Thursday as the hollering cheers and standing ovation that greeted her final tumbling pass on the floor exercise confirmed what everyone knew long before the judges’ verdict came up — Biles was the new champion.
When a stupendous score of 15.933 confirmed she had beaten Raisman by 2.100 points with a total of 62.198, the coronation that had been in the planning stages ever since she won the first of a record three successive world titles in 2013 could finally take place.
Then the woman, who had remained stoic throughout the previous two hours as she showcased her jaw-dropping skills across four apparatus, finally let her guard down and burst into tears.
“Every emotion hit me at once so I was just kind of a train wreck,” Biles said after scooping a second gold here following her success in the team final Tuesday. “Everything was going through my head but mainly it was like I had finally done it and when that hits you, you can’t really stop the emotions.”
For Raisman, claiming silver with a total of 60.098 meant redemption after she suffered a gut-wrenching disappointment to miss out on the bronze four years ago to Russia’s Aliya Mustafina on the tie-break rule. This time, the American was all smiles as she stood one step higher than Mustafina on the podium.
But she was under no illusion which medal she had been aiming for. “No one goes in thinking they can beat Simone. People don’t go in thinking they can beat Usain Bolt either. It’s kind of the same thing,” said Raisman.
As far as Biles was concerned, she is incomparable. “I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps, I’m the first Simone Biles,” shot back the world’s best gymnast.
