PARIS(Reuters) – Simone Biles will be chasing a sixth Olympic gold medal and her second of the Paris Olympics when she competes in the women’s gymnastics all-around final on Thursday in what she has called her “redemption tour” after her withdrawal from the Tokyo Games.
Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all-time, made her much-anticipated return to the Olympic stage on Sunday when she topped the all-around qualifying standings by a solid margin and also finished as the leading contender for the floor exercise and vault finals.
Following her success at the 2016 Rio Games, Biles is favorite to win a second Olympic gold in the all-around. Three years ago she withdrew from the event in Tokyo to prioritize her mental health after suffering from the “twisties”, a condition involving the temporary loss of spatial awareness that some gymnasts can experience when executing high-difficulty elements.
In Biles’ absence, her teammate Sunisa Lee took the gold in Tokyo. Lee, who finished third in qualifications behind Biles and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, will see her fellow American as the biggest obstacle in her gold medal defense.
Biles led the United States to their fourth gold medal in the women’s gymnastics team event on Tuesday at the Paris Olympics, with stellar performances on all four apparatus.
She had experienced calf pain during the qualifications but seemed to be under no visible discomfort in the team final at the Bercy Arena in Paris, where she competed with her left calf taped.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Karen Braun, Chang-Ran Kim and Rory Carroll; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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