Simone Biles to lead U.S. Olympic gymnastics team’s search for ‘redemption’ in Paris

Simone Biles won the U.S. Olympic Team Trials by more than five points and secured her spot on the team in Paris.
MINNEAPOLIS — For most gymnasts, a slip off the balance beam, a foot outside the line on the floor exercise and too many steps after landing a vault could be enough to spoil a chance at victory.

But this is Simone Biles we’re talking about.

For Biles, at 27 already the most decorated gymnast in history, a somewhat shaky night at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials was still enough to finish ahead of her competitors by more than 5.5 points — and officially secure a place on the team that will compete at this summer’s games in Paris.

And the crowd didn’t mind the slip-ups. After her floor routine, her final event of the night, Biles walked off the podium to a standing ovation from the 16,000 people packed into the stands of the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.

Olympic gold is the next capstone that awaits Biles’s remarkable return to dominance after a two-year hiatus from competition. In 2021, she was forced to withdraw from several events in Tokyo after experiencing the “twisties,” a psychological phenomenon in which a gymnast loses their ability to control their body in mid-air. The two-year break, she has said, was necessary to tend to her mental health

Simone Biles was all smiles after her vault performance on Friday on the first day of the Olympic gymnastics trials in Minneapolis. She easily outqualified all of her competitors to make her third Olympic squad.
“I never pictured going to another Olympic Games after Tokyo, just because of the circumstances. I never thought I would go back in the gym again, be twisting, feel free,” Biles said Sunday after the competition.

Biles will enter the Olympics in Paris as a favorite to win gold medals in the individual all-around, vault and floor exercise.

In Paris, she will be joined by the Tokyo Games all-around gold medalist Suni Lee, the St. Paul native who shone Sunday night in front of the friendly hometown crowd.

Two other Olympic veterans, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey, will return for their second Games. Rounding out the team is newcomer Hezly Rivera, who turned 16 in June. Two alternates, Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong, will also travel with the team.

The women’s team had won gold in the team all-around in 2012 and 2016. But in Tokyo, they came in second place after Biles withdrew from the event.

That silver medal finish has stuck with them, the competitors said Sunday. All four of those returning to the Olympics used the word “redemption” as they talked about their goals for Paris.

“I feel like we all have more to give. Our Tokyo performances weren’t the best,” Biles said. “We weren’t under the best circumstances, either, but I feel like we have a lot of weight on our shoulders to go out there and prove we’re better athletes.”