Paris Olympics 2024: Simone Biles becomes most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast

Biles won her fifth Olympic gold medal in the women’s team all-around event, before responding to cutting remarks made by MyKayla Skinner in the build-up to Paris 2024. Simone Biles now has eight Olympic medals, including five gold, surpassing the legendary Shannon Miller to become the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history.

In the chaos of the team final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as the sky seemed to be falling and Simone Biles was forced to withdraw mid-competition, the USA responded to the unexpected adversity with admirable resolve. They finished with a silver medal, a proud achievement that left them even hungrier than before.

Every member of that team has faced significant challenges on the road back: combining college gymnastics with their elite ambitions, substantial injuries, a serious kidney illness, multiple stalkers, and unraveling the twisties.

Biles, along with Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera, now land themselves in the history books as just the fourth American team to win an Olympic gold medal in this event.

Biles said after landing her vault – the event where she got the ‘twisties’ that forced her to withdraw from the team final and several events in Tokyo – that she felt a sense of relief.

“I was like, phew, at least no flashbacks or anything,” Biles said. “I did feel a lot of relief and after I landed vault I was like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re going to do this.'”

Carey, the reigning Olympic champion on the floor, opted not to compete for the event in the team final after a scary fall in the qualifying round, stating after the competition that she wasn’t feeling well.

“This means everything to me, I’m so honored to be on this team and to have been able to contribute today,” Carey said. “This week hasn’t exactly gone how I wanted it to, but I’m just grateful that I was able to compete tonight and get the job done and do exactly what this team needed from me.”

Simone Biles is not done yet:

Simone Biles won her eighth Olympic medal on Tuesday in the women’s team finals — becoming the most decorated American gymnast of all time. But she’s not done yet.

Here are some other opportunities to watch Bile’s compete at the Olympics and possibly add to her medal count:

• Thursday: Women’s all-around final, 6:15 p.m. local time (12:15 p.m. ET). Suni Lee also is qualified to compete in this event.
• Saturday: Women’s vault final, 4:20 p.m. local time (10:20 a.m. ET). Jade Carey also qualified to compete in this event.
• August 5: Women’s balance beam final, 12:38 p.m. local time (6:38 a.m. ET). Lee will compete in this event, too.
• August 5: Women’s floor exercise final, 2:23 a.m. local time (8:23 a.m. ET). Jordan Chiles qualified to compete in this event as well.