Simone Biles, U.S. gymnastics open Olympics with upset results in qualifier
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TOKYO — At the first postponed Olympics — one happening amid a global pandemic and with protocol and restrictions galore — perhaps it’s fitting the U.S. women’s gymnastics teams first competition in Tokyo didn’t resemble the norm.
At Ariake Gymnastics Centre on Sunday afternoon, the four-gymnast American team finished their qualifying session with a 170.562 team score — 1.067 points behind Russia, which competed in an earlier subdivision.
The U.S. hasn’t lost a women’s gymnastics world or Olympic team competition since 2010 — mostly thanks to Simone Biles’ groundbreaking dominance since 2013.
But even Spring resident Biles faltered in her Tokyo debut, though she still qualified for all five individual finals.
Biles stumbled on her three best events and at times looked so miffed that her expressions would’ve gone viral on social media had the competition not happened overnight in America.
Afterward, the gymnasts and coaches walked past reporters in the mixed zone without stopping, and national team coordinator Tom Forster ended his interview after five minutes by saying, “I’m going to go. I’m done.”
The squad arrived in Japan as the heavy favorite for a third consecutive Olympic team gold medal, but has just two days to regroup before the team final Tuesday night in Tokyo.
“This is not the finals,” Forster said. “This is getting into the finals, so this might be a great awakening for us, and we’ll take advantage of it.”
Biles’ first routine might’ve foreshadowed the inconsistency to come.
The 24-year-old soared through her first two tumbling passes on the floor exercise with her usual power and precision. But on her third pass, Biles rebounded out of her flip and landed fully off the apparatus.
One rotation later, Biles hit the vaulting table at a crooked angle on her first run and landed out of bounds, taking another step off the mat.
After a steady uneven bars routine, Biles appeared to have her rhythm back on the balance beam — until she overpowered her dismount and took several steps backward. She held her chest in relief after she saluted the judges.
Biles entered Tokyo with expectations for five gold medals — in the team, all-around, vault, floor and beam finals.
She’s still on track, but she didn’t advance with her typical distance from the rest of the field.
Biles finished the preliminary sessions ranked first all-around and on vault, but second on floor, seventh on beam. Her berth to the final on bars — her weakest event — was an unexpected bonus.
Two of the five other U.S. gymnasts — Sunisa Lee (all-around, bars and beam) and Jade Carey (vault and floor) — will join Biles in contention for individual medals.
Jordan Chiles, Biles’ training partner since 2019 at World Champions Center near Houston, had been the steadiest American gymnast in 2021 but failed to make a final Sunday.
From February to midway through the qualifier Sunday, Chiles completed 26 consecutive routines without a major mistake. But after nailing her floor and vault routines Sunday, Chiles broke form on uneven bars and then fell off the beam once before crashing her dismount.
“That was a surprise,” Forster said. “She’s been incredibly consistent, and I’m sure she feels bad, but I’m super proud of the way she trained. She’s been a great leader for us, so it is what it is. Sometimes — just like in any other sport — great athletes drop the ball in the end zone or a quarterback throws an interception. It happens.”
What hasn’t happened in the last decade?
A credible threat to the U.S. in team competition.
Many questioned Forster at the Olympics trials last month about the team selections. The committee chose the top four all-around finishers — Biles, Lee, Chiles and Grace McCallum — instead of taking the group of four athletes — with vault standout MyKayla Skinner over McCallum — who would’ve produced the highest possible team score based on average results this season.
Forster said then the committee didn’t want to break rank order, its unspoken approach for objectivity after years of other decision-makers prioritizing medals over athlete wellbeing.
The difference in groupings was just a few tenths, he said, implying the U.S. would win regardless.
Forster faced the same questions again Sunday.
“I just want to reemphasize: If anybody out there complained about USA Gymnastics only [thinking] about medals, that was not the point,” Forster said. “We did not make decisions over a couple of tenths for another medal. We went on rank order because we thought it was a good order.
“And I still feel good about it.”