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