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Simone Biles Produces Fireworks and Fresh Doubts at the Olympics

I fricken knew it. This always happens. Is it too much to ask for an American who wipes the floor with all those other nauseating places where people live? How are we going to make America great again if Ms Biles screws the pooch?


I'm praying for her, her team of doctors and massage therapists.


Simone Biles Produces Fireworks and Fresh Doubts at the Olympics

In her debut at the Paris Games, the U.S. gymnastics star gritted through a calf injury in a performance that was both spectacular and concerning


By Louise Radnofsky and Andrew Beaton, WSJ

Updated July 28, 2024 4:43 pm ET


PARIS—Simone Biles kicked off her Paris 2024 campaign with a dazzling return to the Olympic stage, but with a performance that raised questions for the rest of her Games as she visibly hobbled through a lower leg injury for most of her qualifying round.


Despite the pain in her calf, which her coach Cecile Canqueteau-Landi said Biles first experienced a couple of weeks ago, Biles delivered a reminder to a global audience that she’s still the best gymnast on the planet.


She opened with a strong performance on the beam, before feeling the injury during her floor routine, Canqueteau-Landi said, which included a triple-twisting double somersault that wowed a packed and star-studded crowd inside Bercy Arena.


Throughout the rest of the afternoon, Biles appeared to go out of her way to avoid putting pressure on her left leg. She taped her lower leg tightly after floor to power through her vault, but at one point during a warm-up she crawled back down the runway and then started hopping.


For the last apparatus, the uneven bars, she was starting to feel better, Canqueteau-Landi said—but that event involves little leg-impact until the end, when Biles stuck her dismount and then immediately lifted her left foot in another sign of discomfort.


It all added up to a performance that was both spectacular and concerning. She put up scores that underscored why she’s a heavy favorite to leave Paris with a fistful of gold medals—while also highlighting once again that gymnastics is a precarious sport. With the big numbers she put up, the U.S. women qualified first to the team final, and Biles herself qualified in first place for the individual all-around, floor and vault finals, and in second place for the beam final.


Canqueteau-Landi said there were no concerns “at the moment” about her ability to compete Tuesday in the team final. But as Biles fought through the pain, it remained unclear how the situation would play out over the coming days.


Asked if it was a minor tweak or something more serious, Canqueteau-Landi could only say: “I don’t know, I’m not a doctor.”


Chellsie Memmel, one of the U.S. national team coordinators, said she would be speaking with Biles and the national team medical staff about the path forward and that she would trust them and Biles’s coaches “to make the best decision for her.”


Memmel, who was watching from the stands rather than on the competition floor, said she began to panic when she saw Biles crawl and that her exact thoughts were so profane she couldn’t say them out loud. The one thing she wasn’t upset about was Biles’s capacity to come through on Sunday regardless.


“What she was able to do with looking like she had some soreness in her lower leg, it is remarkable,” Memmel said.


The uneasy situation put a cloud over what was otherwise a triumphant return in front of an audience that included Tom Cruise, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg, Anna Wintour, Greta Gerwig, Jessica Chastain, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen.


While Biles continued to compete in front of the rapt crowd that thunderously cheered on each of her feats, the U.S. now faces a potential problem ahead of the team final for the second consecutive Olympics.


Three years ago, Biles withdrew from the event after experiencing something called the twisties, which causes gymnasts to lose their ability to contort their bodies through the air. Back in Tokyo, without Biles in the team final, the U.S. wound up with a silver led by individual all-around gold medalist Suni Lee.


One of the other questions facing the Americans as they competed Sunday was whether the reigning individual all-around champion would make this Olympic final. Through three of the four rotations, Lee trailed teammate Jordan Chiles after substandard showings on the balance beam and floor, which risked relegating her to the role of cheering on her teammates during the marquee competition. Then, with a trademark performance on the bars, she narrowly overtook Chiles to secure the Americans’ second spot behind Biles.


Jade Carey, the reigning Olympic floor champion, had a disastrous performance on the apparatus Sunday, but recovered for two strong vaults to get her into that final. The 16-year-old newcomer Hezly Rivera had a nervy outing during her debut on the beam before a more solid showing on uneven bars.


Altogether, the U.S. still showed why it’s expected to win the team gold, especially without the defending champion Russian team here. But suddenly, there’s once again some doubt about the status of the team’s unquestioned superstar: Simone Biles.


Write to Louise Radnofsky at louise.radnofsky@wsj.com and Andrew Beaton at andrew.beaton@wsj.com

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