September 20, 2024

Simone Biles, US gymnastics team not invincible after shocking second-place in qualifying

Simone #Simone

a person in a blue shirt: Simone Biles walks onto the floor in the women's gymnastics qualifications during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre. © Danielle Parhizkaran, USA TODAY N Simone Biles walks onto the floor in the women’s gymnastics qualifications during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre.

I’m saying a bright and early good morning to all of you reading stateside, but the Tokyo Olympics have been going at full-force all night long, and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team had a rough time in the all-around qualification round while we were sleeping. 

In their first day of competition in Tokyo, the women made uncharacteristic error after error that ultimately landed them in second place behind Russia heading into the team final. Simone Biles and Grace McCallum both went out of bounds on floor exercise, Jordan Chiles fell off the beam, and Sunisa Lee struggled on her vault landing. 

Though the U.S. will still comfortably make the final, a third-consecutive team gold is suddenly far from a guarantee. 

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🥇 Major Team USA wins: The U.S. got its first gold medal of the Games yesterday from swimmer Chase Kalisz in the 400-meter intermediate medley, and Shaner William added a second in men’s air rifle. Jagger Eaton made history in street skateboarding, winning bronze in the first Olympic competition and upsetting American teammate Nyjah Huston, who came into the event ranked No. 1 in the world. 

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Simone Biles, US gymnastics team not invincible after shocking second-place in qualifying

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