Simone Biles is heading back to the Olympics, cruising to victory at the U.S. Olympic trials on Sunday night after posting a two-day all-around total of 117.225. Sunisa Lee, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Hezly Rivera will join her in Paris.
MINNEAPOLIS — Simone Biles is heading back to the Olympics. So are some of her friends.
The gymnastics superstar earned a third trip to her sport’s biggest stage by cruising to victory at the U.S. Olympic trials on Sunday night, posting a two-day all-around total of 117.225 to clinch the lone automatic spot on the five-woman team.
Three years removed from the Tokyo Olympics — where she pulled out of multiple finals to prioritize her safety and becoming a touchstone on the importance of mental health in the process — Biles returns to the Games looking perhaps as good as ever at 27.
« Trusting the process and (my coaches), I knew I’d be back », Biles said.
Biles isn’t going alone.
Reigning Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, 2020 Olympic floor exercise champion Jade Carey, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles and 16-year-old Hezly Rivera were named to the five-woman team later Sunday night. Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong are the alternates.
A trip to France has never really been in doubt for Biles since she returned from a two-year break last summer. All she’s done over the last 12 months is win a sixth world all-around title and her eighth and ninth national championship — both records — while further cementing her status as the best-ever in her sport.
