Simone Biles won the women’s gymnastics vault final Saturday, continuing her comeback tour de force with her third gold medal of the Paris Olympics.
Biles started off with a Yurchenko double pike, a complex vault also known as the Biles II. She beamed after the dismount as the crowd roared and her coach threw his arms in the air. She received a score of 15.7.
For her second go, Biles beautifully executed a Cheng vault, scoring 14.9 and and giving her a final result of 15.3.
Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, considered Biles’ strongest competitor, took silver with 14.966. Biles’ U.S. teammate Jade Carey won the bronze with 14.466.
Biles had led the qualifiers for the event with a score of 15.300, followed by Andrade and Carey. Andrade won the event at the Tokyo Olympics.
Gymnasts must perform two different vaults in this competition. The two scores are averaged for the final figure. This apparatus, after floor, is considered one of Biles’ best events, and she has two different vaults named after her: the Biles I and II.
After an incredible performance at the 2016 Rio Olympics — where Biles won gold in the team, all-around, vault and floor routine events and bronze on balance beam — Biles dropped out of the Tokyo Games three years ago to focus on her mental health.
Her domination in Paris has further bolstered her status as an exemplar for self care in the athletic world and everywhere, as she defies her critics on what she’s calling her “redemption tour.”
At 27, Biles is the oldest American woman to compete in Olympic gymnastics, a deeply demanding sport, since 1952
On Tuesday, she and teammates Carey, Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee and Hezly Rivera won the team final. She struck gold again at the individual all-around, while Lee took bronze.
“Mental health matters,” she wrote on Instagram on Friday after winning the highly coveted all-around.
