Biles is back – Simone a big pull as celebrities descend on the gymnastics

Cheered by a capacity and celebrity-laden crowd at the Bercy Arena in Paris, Simone Biles sparkled on her Olympic return, soaring to the top of the all-around qualifying standings in a leotard featuring 10,000 Swarovski crystals.

It is one thousand and ninety days since Biles won a bronze medal on the balance beam in Tokyo, a redemptive footnote to a tumultuous Games in which she had withdrawn from her three other individual finals citing a mental block known in her sport as the ‘twisties’.

Tom Cruise, Snoop Dogg, Ariana Grande and Anna Wintour were among those present to witness the latest chapter in the 27-year-old’s already extraordinary career that has already yielded 37 world and Olympic medals, making her the most decorated gymnast of all time.

As befits the celebrity pantheon among whom Biles herself now plainly resides, her return was not without drama – during a floor return featuring a rare triple flip, she appeared to injure her left calf, briefly consulting the US team physio and even resorting to crawling back down the runway from her first practice vault on her hands and knees.

Moments later, she responded to concerns by delivering a Yurchenko Double Pike vault, otherwise known as the Biles II.  Biles is the only female gymnast to get anywhere close to the skill, and it was all the more remarkable given she was plainly less than fully fit.

US coach Cecile Landi downplayed the extent of Biles’ injury, saying she aggravated a minor issue she sustained earlier this month and “never” considered withdrawing from the competition.

“It was just a little pain in her calf,” said Landi.

“She felt it a little bit on floor. We taped it to tie it up. She felt better at the end, on bars.”

Having appeared emotional and a little distracted earlier in the rotation, Biles was full of smiles following her closing routine on the uneven bars, by far her least comfortable piece of apparatus, and the only one of the four individual finals on which she has – expected – missed out.

In truth, injury permitting, Biles could hardly have asked for more from her long-awaited return, the result of a journey she kick-started back into life in spectacular fashion after a year out post-Tokyo, when she won four gold medals and one silver at the World Championships in Antwerp in 2023.

The US team’s technical lead, Chellsie Memmel, had described Paris as a “redemption tour”, not just for Biles but for four of the five team members who had fallen just short in the team event in Tokyo, beaten by the now-absent athletes representing the Russian Olympic Committee.

It was wholly fitting then that Biles should return to the Olympic arena on the apparatus that had provided her solace in Tokyo, when in an extraordinary act of courage she grasped her last chance of an individual medal despite being gripped by an affliction of which she spoke eloquently and honestly.

Her beam score of 14.733 was an improvement on her score in Tokyo by almost three quarters of a point, and would eventually place her second, behind China’s Yaqin Zhou.

As if she was not already under enough pressure, Biles delivered her floor routine in the wake of a fall for her team-mate and the defending Olympic champion Jade Carey, which put her out of contention to retain the crown and could have impacted the US qualifying score if Biles had not delivered.

Some chance. On both floor and vault, Biles ranked over half a point clear of her nearest rival, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who is also her closest challenger for the all-around title, albeit 1.866 points adrift.

For Biles’ team-mates and rivals, her return to the Olympic arena is clearly an inspiration.

“We probably won’t see anyone like Simone again for a long time – it’s really exciting what she brings to the sport,” said Britain’s Becky Downie.

“It’s incredible that she’s come back. What she’s done for the sport in general has been great for the sport, just bringing gymnastics to the wider public and inspiring so many young girls.”

With a wave to all four corners of the arena and one final deft manoeuvre to skip interviews in the media mixed zone, Biles finally departed, swiftly followed by the celebrity-sprinkled hordes.

She and they will be back for the women’s team final in two days’ time, where Biles’ already record-breaking medal tally is expected to grow, cementing her legacy, now surely inarguable, as the greatest gymnast the world has seen.