Simone Biles won her 11th career Olympic medal but lost out on gold in a dramatic floor final that saw a late change in the medal standings.
Biles produced a blistering routine, but her gravity-defying tumbles saw her go over the edge of the floor twice, resulting in a 0.6-point deduction and falling well short of gold medalist Rebeca Andrade.
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Earlier on Monday afternoon, Biles fell from the balance beam During her routine, she had to settle for fifth place and was furious with the noise from the crowd and the delay in the judges delivering the scores.
Yet just hours later, at the Bercy Arena — in front of Tom Brady — Biles was smiling in what was her final performance of the Games and, perhaps, of her Olympic career.
She was denied the gold by the woman she says pushed her closer than ever during the all-around final.
The 27-year-old superstar left all the drama from earlier in the day behind and smiled as a beautiful routine brought the crowd to their feet.
But the judges had no choice but to apply deductions for a final score of 14.133 — without them, it would have been the eighth Olympic gold medal of her career.
“I think Rebecca got this one,” Biles appeared to say as she waited for the score.
The silver medal was confirmed when Biles’ U.S. teammate Jordan Chiles’ score was corrected following an investigation.
Romanian Ana Barbosa was celebrating her bronze, but after an appeal and a change in the score, Chiles put two Americans on the podium.
This is only the second Olympic silver of Biles’ career, following her second-place finish in the team event in Tokyo – and in many ways it was all the more remarkable given reports from the arena suggested she had taken a tumble in her final warm-up.
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As for the champion, Andrade has been the big fan favorite and, coming in second place among the nine finalists, the Brazilian set the early pace with a score of 14.166.
Although Biles’s busy routine – which had a difficulty rating of 6.8 – left her close, it was the Brazilian who took home the well-deserved gold.
Biles won the floor final in Rio in 2016, but later lost pulling out of the postponed Tokyo Olympics with the ‘twistys’.
That finish three years ago led Biles to a comeback that she has described as his ‘redemption tour’ and despite the disappointment on the beam, her performances underscored her status as one of the world’s best athletes – endorsed by LeBron James.
Already in Paris she attracted crowds which included Serena Williams, Tom Cruise and Snoop Dogg – and set social media on fire with her performances and her revelations that she can’t even get into the Olympic Village, such is the demand from other athletes.
At the start of the Games, she won the individual and team events, and the gold medal of the jump – who saw her celebrate with a spectacular GOAT necklace.
Her status as one of the greatest of all time has never been in doubt, and her performance in Paris only added to her legend, as she walked away with 11 Olympic medals.
Seven golds, two silvers and two bronzes make for a phenomenal haul, and there’s still the possibility she could return in four years’ time for a home game in Los Angeles to add to her tally.
“Never say never,” Biles said after her gold medal on vault on Saturday.
“The next Olympics will be at home. So you never know. I’m getting really old.”