Current:Home > ContactSimone Biles says she has calf discomfort during Olympic gymnastics qualifying but keeps competing -ProgressCapital
Simone Biles says she has calf discomfort during Olympic gymnastics qualifying but keeps competing
View
Date:2025-04-12 09:34:27
PARIS (AP) — Simone Biles briefly left the floor and said she has discomfort in her left leg but continued her quest to return atop the Olymipc podium Sunday.
The 27-year-old American and the five-woman U.S. gymnastics team took the floor at a packed, star-studded Bercy Arena during the second qualifying subdivision for the Paris Games on Sunday. The Americans are heavily favored to win the team gold after finishing runner-up to Russia three years ago in Tokyo.
Biles dazzled during her opening beam routine, then briefly left the floor with USA team doctor Marcia Faustin. She returned a short time later and spent several minutes sitting and watching her teammates.
Biles was heard on camera saying she felt something in her calf but stepped onto the competition floor with the leg taped. She appeared just fine when Taylor Swift’s “Ready for It” began playing and her routine — the hardest in the world — was solid. She walked gingerly off the floor and sat off to the side for a moment before receiving a hug from longtime coach Laurent Landi.
She received a 14.600, assuring her a spot in the event finals next week.
The stands were buzzing and filled with celebrities. Tom Cruise posed for selfies while waiting for Biles to emerge. Snoop Dogg had front-row seats, and Ariana Grande, Jessica Chastain, John Legend and Anna Wintour were also on hand.
Biles arrived in Paris as the face of the U.S. Olympic movement and maybe the Olympics themselves. The buzz around her return to the Games has been palpable, with NBC leaning heavily into her star power by splashing Biles’ face on countless promotions in the lead-up to Paris.
Her gravitational pull is real. Athletes across the Olympic spectrum have said they want to make it a point to catch the most decorated gymnast of all time in what could be the final competition of her unparalleled career. Among them: LeBron James and the U.S. men’s basketball team, which was busy Sunday with Olympic qualifying.
Biles and teammates, starting on balance beam, wore blue-gray uniforms with nearly 3,000 sequins sewn into the top. Jordan Chiles went first, giving an emphatic fist bump after nailing the dismount to end her routine.
___
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
veryGood! (54)
Related
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Why Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams May Be Rejoining the George R.R. Martin Universe
- Parts of Southern California under quarantine over oriental fruit fly infestation
- Cameron Brink set to make Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debut
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- A pregnant woman sues for the right to an abortion in challenge to Kentucky’s near-total ban
- Ben Foster files to divorce Laura Prepon after 6 years, according to reports
- Caitlin Clark has one goal for her LPGA pro-am debut: Don't hit anyone with a golf ball
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- Why Suits' Gabriel Macht Needed Time Away From Harvey Specter After Finale
Ranking
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Trump ally Steve Bannon blasts ‘lawfare’ as he faces New York trial after federal prison stint
- Minnesota man is free after 16 years in prison for murder that prosecutors say he didn’t commit
- Olivia Munn Randomly Drug Tests John Mulaney After Mini-Intervention
- Small twin
- My Chemical Romance will perform 'The Black Parade' in full during 2025 tour: See dates
- After entire police force resigns in small Oklahoma town, chief blames leaders, budget cuts
- New Yorkers vent their feelings over the election and the Knicks via subway tunnel sticky notes
Recommendation
Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones responds to CeeDee Lamb's excuse about curtains at AT&T Stadium
Kentucky officer reprimanded for firing non-lethal rounds in 2020 protests under investigation again
Pistons' Tim Hardaway Jr. leaves in wheelchair after banging head on court
Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
Why Officials Believe a Missing Kayaker Faked His Own Death and Ran Off to Europe
Mike Tyson-Jake Paul: How to watch the fight, time, odds
Trump ally Steve Bannon blasts ‘lawfare’ as he faces New York trial after federal prison stint