USA Women’s Gymnastics: Gold in Team All-Around, Gold for Biles and Bronze for Lee in Individual All-Around

Thanks to fantastic performances led by the likes of Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee, who would also earn separate medals in the Individual all-around event, Team USA avenges its last Olympics second place finish to grab gold in the Team All-Around event in Paris.

Dominance in women’s gymnastics is no stranger for the United States, and this pattern would continue for the first medal events of the sport in Paris. The 2024 version of the team, which would go on to capture the gold medal in the Team All-Around event above silver medal winners Italy and bronze medal winners Brazil, consisted of Simone Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee and Hezly Rivera.

Led by the 27-year-old great Biles, the self-titled “Golden Girls” were able to flash athletic greatness and grace on an international stage in spectacular fashion. Carey, 24 years old; Chiles, 23 years old and Lee, 21 years old filled out the list of the competitors in the team final event with Rivera, the lone teen of the group at 16 years old, not participating due to not qualifying in any of the individual events in the qualifiers beforehand. With an average age of 22.467, this version of Team USA represented the oldest version of women’s gymnastics at an Olympics since 1952.

The event consists of four features: the vault, the uneven bars, the balance beam and the floor exercise. Biles and Chiles participated in all four events while Lee took part in all except for the vault, which represented Carey’s lone event.  And for Biles, who memorably took a leave of absence in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to a notable mental block called the “twisties”, the event displayed a note of redemption.

Despite a lingering calf injury, Biles was able to perform at a high level, as she has so many times in the past. Right from the beginning, starting with the vault, it was clear that Biles and the United States were not there to play around. A trio of solid scores headlined by Biles’ 14.9 made sure to give Team USA a comfortable lead after the vault rotation that would never really be touched throughout the rest of the competition.

Notable performances in the uneven bars and the balance beam came from Lee, who took home the gold medal in the Individual All-Around event in Tokyo and would perform in the same event in the 2024 games just a few days after this team event. A 14.566 score in the bars and a 14.6 score in the beam paced the Americans in the two events.

For Lee, the amazing performance represented a comeback of her own, just like Biles displayed her version of a comeback. Lee was diagnosed last year with two rare forms of kidney diseases and was forced to the sidelines for months. The diseases forced her to retire from college gymnastics at Auburn University in April 2023. Although at times she started to lose hope of competing in the Olympics ever again and gymnastics ever again in general, Lee was able to adjust her training schedule and return just seven months after her first symptoms. For a woman who was at one point a longshot to even be in Paris, Lee battled and delivered quality scores for the eventual gold-winning gymnastics team, captivated by her visible emotion as she left the floor.

“I feel like we came together today as a team really well and we picked each other up, lifted each other up when we needed it so it just felt amazing to be back out here,” Lee said.

As Carey, Chiles and Lee tallied stellar scores, Team USA entered the final rotation of the floor exercise in full control. And capped off by a closing performance by Biles that left the Bercy Arena crowd on their feet, the Americans clinched their gold medal. Chants of “USA!” thundered around the venue as Biles blew a kiss to those in attendance.

“It was super exciting, we had fun, we enjoyed each other’s time out there and we just did our gymnastics,” said Biles.

After Tuesday’s team final, the Individual All-Around event came around on Thursday. And the story continued for the United States: more gold for the “Golden Girls”.

Biles and Lee, both past winners of the event at the Olympics, represented the United States in the event and each left the competition with a medal of their own. The former was able to get the gold medal, meaning that she would become the first woman to win two Olympic All-Around titles since 1968 and the only U.S. gymnast to win six Olympic gold medals. The latter was able to pair her 2020 gold medal with a 2024 bronze.

While Biles overcame early miscues to win her second Gold medal in the event with a final score of 59.131, Lee had to sweat for her medal. Thanks to a clutch floor exercise that began with a perfect first pass and a gleaming smile from Lee, she was able to make the podium with a floor score of 13.666 and a total score of 56.465.

“I did everything I was supposed to and here we are. I’m so happy with my medal, I didn’t even think that I would be here so to be here is just a blessing in itself,” said Lee after the individual event.

The silver medal went to Brazilian star Rebeca Andrade with a final score of 57.932.

For Biles, who wore a diamond goat necklace after, the individual gold medal allowed her to become the oldest to do so in the event in 72 years.

“I put a lot of mental work into it, physical work, coming back from Tokyo the journey wasn’t easy. I’m ecstatic to be on this stage, especially competing with Suni again. It all paid off and I couldn’t be more excited for how the night played out,” Biles said.

Looking forward, Biles and Carey will compete in the Individual Vault final on Saturday, Lee will compete in the Uneven Bars final on Sunday, Biles and Lee with compete in the Balance Beam final on Monday and Biles and Chiles will compete in the Floor final later that same day.

As of written date, these aforementioned events have not yet occurred.