Simone Biles narrowly missed out on her fourth gold medal at the Paris Olympics, but her heartwarming gesture to the gold medalist has been praised.
Simone Biles has become the most decorated Olympic gymnast of all time after the Paris 2024 games.
But she just missed out on her fourth gold medal earlier today [August 5], after she landed with both feet outside the floor area twice during the floor competition.
The 27-year-old American - who won team, all-around and vault gold - was awarded a silver medal after Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade shone to take the title.
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Her Team USA teammate Jordan Chiles won the bronze medal.
Despite the loss, the pair have been praised for the honourable gesture they made to Andrade following her win.
As she was presented with the gold medal, both Biles and Chiles bowed in salute to the winner, which made for a very wholesome moment in the sport.
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One fan on X said: "Ugh, that was so beautiful!!" as another said: "It's impossible not to like Simone, I'm sorry."
A third added: "The official broadcast didn't show it, but the American's bow to Rebeca was beautiful."
The difficulty level of Biles' routine was a whole mark higher than the Brazilian's, and she ultimately paid the price for it.
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She had appeared frustrated with the crowd during the beam final, but seemed to shake off her disappointment ahead of her start on the floor.
She looked powerful, and perfectly landed a triple twisting double somersault.
But with the height and power of the tumbles came her downfall, resulting in her bouncing off the floor area and gaining the deductions.
After beating Andrade to the all-around title last week, Biles had praised her rival - saying she was the only gymnast who had ever come close to her.
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Biles has now won 11 Olympic gymnastics medals.
On Sunday [August 4], she implored reporters to stop asking her the same question following her routines.
She wrote on X: "You guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics. Let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for.”
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To hammer her point home, she replied to someone who commented: "What is your next step after winning gold medal??" by saying: “Babysitting the medal.”
Don't question the GOAT!
Topics: Olympics, Sport, Simone Biles
Mia Williams