American gymnastics star Simone Biles heads to Paris with a shot at history. The 27-year-old is heavily favored to win the all-around gold and leads a five-woman U.S. team eyeing redemption after settling for silver behind Russia at the 2020 Olympics.
Simone Biles and the rest of the U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team don’t need to be reminded of what happened in Tokyo three years ago. Mostly because nearly all of them lived it.
Biles, reigning Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles and 2020 floor exercise champion Jade Carey were all there inside a nearly empty and oddly silent Ariake Gymnastics Centre during a memorable two weeks that altered the course of each of their careers and in ways both big and small led them back to the Games.
They are older now — Biles is 27, Carey is 24, Chiles is 23 and Lee is 21 — and eager for what they are calling a shot at redemption.
“Everybody probably looks at the team, like ‘OK, they went to Tokyo and this, this and this happened. And what are they going to do here in Paris?’” Biles said. “But for us, I know we’re stronger than what we showed in Tokyo.”
Biles arrived in Japan as the face of the Games. She left without the gold medals most expected and instead at the center of the conversation about the intersection between mental health and sports.
Lee became a somewhat unexpected champion after Biles pulled out of multiple finals, a victory she struggled to believe she had rightfully earned. Carey packed a gold medal in her carry-on coming home but admits it felt weird competing as an individual after following an unusual path to the Games. Chiles cherished the team silver the Americans captured while Biles watched from the sideline but allowed she wasn’t at her best during the meet.
