Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team are competing in the team final today at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Biles and her teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera are heavy favorites to win gold, a dominant qualifying again showing how far ahead they are of their competitors. Biles tweaked her calf in qualifying, but still blew everyone out of the water in the session and will do all four events in the team final.
USA TODAY Sports will bring you live results, scores and highlights throughout the day. Follow along.
Simone Biles, USA open gymnastics final on vault
The U.S. opens the team final with a bang: On vault, where Simone Biles is expected to drop her signature Yurchenko double pike in her first attempt.
Simone Biles, U.S. women’s gymnastics team introduced at final
The teams are being introduced to the crowd, Simone Biles and the U.S. women receiving the biggest of all from the crowd.
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Serena Williams, Michael Phelps in crowd to watch Simone Biles, U.S. women
Retired U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, tennis superstar Serena Williams and actress Natalie Portman are among the A-list stars on hand in Bercy Arena to see what is expected to be a gold medal victory for Simone Biles and Team USA. Biles’ husband, Jonathan Owens, is also in the arena after flying to Paris overnight. The Chicago Bears allowed the safety to leave training camp temporarily to see Biles compete at the Olympics.
When is Simone Biles competing today?
Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team are competing right now in the Olympics team final, which started at 12:15 p.m. ET.
Women’s gymnastics on TV today
NBC is airing it the women’s gymnastics team final, Peacock is live streaming it.
Is Simone Biles’ husband at Olympics?
He’s here! Jonathan Owens is in the arena, sitting with Biles’ parents and wearing a T-shirt with “BILES” on it and a huge photo of his wife in action on it. He landed in Paris on Tuesday morning. In addition to the team final, Owens will be able to watch Biles in the all-around final on Thursday, Aug. 1.
Simone Biles injury update
Cecile Landi, one of Biles’ coaches, said after qualifying on Sunday there are no concerns about Biles continuing to compete in Paris after tweaking her calf and having her ankle taped. Landi said “she felt better at the end (of the session), yeah.”
Landi went on to say there was no discussion about Biles not continuing to compete on Sunday. “Never in her mind,” Landi said. Landi also said there was no discussion about Biles doing just one vault or watering down her planned skills. Landi was then asked what Biles did with her leg: “Just a little pain in her calf. She felt it a little bit on floor. And we taped it to kind of (tighten) it up.” Biles finished competing in the qualifying session with her left ankle taped. Here’s everything we know about Simone Biles’ injury and her tweaked calf.
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Simone Biles’ moves named after her: What to know
Simone Biles has left her mark on the sport of gymnastics. In addition to her record number of medals — she has 37 at the world championships and Olympics, more than any other gymnast, male or female — Biles has five skills named after her. Skills are named after the first gymnast to do them in a major international competition, like the world championships or Olympics. She has two on vault, two on floor exercise and one on balance beam. Here’s are the Simone Biles moves named after her. — Nancy Armour
Simone Biles’ Yurchenko double pike: What to know
The Biles II is also known as the Yurchenko double pike, one of five moves named after Simone Biles. Vaults are categorized by “families,” which are based on the entry. On Yurchenko vaults, a gymnast does a roundoff onto the takeoff board and a back handspring onto the table. Biles then follows it with a double somersault in the piked position.
Few men even try this vault, which is so difficult because of the power it takes to get two somersaults as well as its lack of a bailout. If something goes awry, more likely to land on her head or neck than her knees.
Biles began doing this vault in 2021 but didn’t do it at a worlds or Olympics until the 2023 world championships. With a 6.4 difficulty value, it is the hardest vault in the women’s code.
When Biles did the vault last year, she took a half-point deduction for having coach Laurent Landi standing on the landing mat, ready to step in and redirect her into a safe position if it looked as if she was headed for a scary landing. But neither Biles nor Landi feel the need for him to do that anymore.
The most difficult vault commonly executed by other gymnasts is valued at 5.6, eight-tenths lower than the Biles II, so doing it gives Biles a huge scoring advantage.
Simone Biles’ moves named after her: What to know
Simone Biles has left her mark on the sport of gymnastics. In addition to her record number of medals — she has 37 at the world championships and Olympics, more than any other gymnast, male or female — Biles has five skills named after her. Skills are named after the first gymnast to do them in a major international competition, like the world championships or Olympics. She has two on vault, two on floor exercise and one on balance beam. Here’s are the Simone Biles moves named after her. — Nancy Armour
Is Simone Biles the greatest gymnast of all time?
Biles is the greatest gymnast of all time. She has consistently dominated the sport for over a decade, which would have been an unimaginable feat just a few years ago as most gymnasts reach their peak in their late teens. Her ability to win is in a class of its own. With 37 Olympic and world championship medals — 27 of which are gold — Biles has won the most of any gymnast in history. She has also not lost an all-around competition since 2013.
Biles redefines the possibilities of her sport not just in her record-breaking number of wins and medals, but also in the unmatched difficulty of the skills she completes. Biles has no less than five skills named after her — two on the vault and floor and one on the balance beam — because she was the first, and in most cases, the only athlete to complete them in competition.
How many Olympic medals does Simone Biles have?
Biles has won seven Olympic medals, four of which are gold. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Biles won three individual golds in the all-around, vault and floor exercise and led Team USA’s “Final Five” to the team gold. She also added a bronze medal on the balance beam. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Biles added a silver medal in the team event and an additional bronze medal in the balance beam to her hardware collection.
How many Olympics has Simone Biles been to?
The 2024 Paris Olympics are Simone Biles’ third Olympic Games.
Where Simone Biles trains and what it’s like to train with her
Simone Biles trains at Champions Centre World, which is owned by Biles’ parents Nellie and Ron and is just outside Houston, has become one of the premier gyms in the country. WCC has two gymnasts on the five-woman US team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Biles and Jordan Chiles, with Joscelyn Roberson a traveling alternate and Tiana Sumanasekera a non-traveling alternate. It also sent the most gymnasts, five, to the Olympic trials, and had three more at the US championships.
“Training with Simone is, like, once in a lifetime,” said Roberson, who moved to WCC after the US championships in 2022. “She’s always so bubbly in the gym. Plus, she can hit. All the time. Like, she never has a bad day, which is insane to me.”
How Simone Biles, US Olympic women’s gymnastics shattered age stereotype
Simone Biles, 27, is seeking to become the oldest all-around Olympic champion in women’s gymnastics in 72 years, and she is one of four athletes on the U.S. team who fit what used to be a rare mold, as repeat Olympians in their 20s. The other three − Jade Carey (24), Jordan Chiles (23) and Suni Lee (21) − all competed in college between their two Olympic appearances, which also used to be uncommon. (Hezly Rivera, 16, rounds out the team.)
With an average age north of 22 years old, it will be the oldest U.S. women’s gymnastics team to compete at the Olympics since 1952, according to USA Gymnastics.
“The longevity of this sport has been totally changed. Simone has changed that,” Chiles said.
Simone Biles’ mom talks calf injury, pride in her daugher
Nellie Biles is happy to see the joy back on her daughter’s face at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but she told USA TODAY Sports on Monday her heart skipped a beat when Simone Biles briefly left Sunday’s qualifying session after tweaking her calf.
“Well, I was worried about that,” Nellie Biles said after an appearance on NBC’s TODAY show. “Then I saw her up there to do that Yurchenko (double pike on the vault), I’m like, ‘For real?’ And then I gave her the thumbs up to see if she was OK and she nodded, so I’m like, ‘OK, she’s fine,’ and she went and she threw it. It was great. It was great. I’m like, ‘OK, then I guess you’re fine.'”
Both Biles’ mother and brother, Ron Jr., said Monday they’re thrilled to see her healthy and happy ahead at these Paris Olympics.
“I just want to see her just be happy, man, succeed, and we’ve got no expectations as a family,” Ron Biles Jr. said. “Not putting anything on her but just want her to feel comfortable, confident, fulfilled when it’s all complete and done. Just really just see her in her element. She’s worked so hard to get back, gone through a lot and I’m just so happy just to see her in Paris.”
“I’m very proud as a mother to watch her and see her enjoying what she’s doing,” Nellie Biles said. “It’s different. Every time I watch her compete. It all depends on where she’s at mentally, and now I could tell that she’s in a very good place and she’s enjoying it. And you know, it is so good to see. It is so good to see.”
Who is Simone Biles’ husband?
Simone Biles’ husband is Jonathan Owens, a safety for the Chicago Bears. His career is self-made. He was an undrafted free agent out of Missouri Western and signed with the Arizona Cardinals in April 2018. Less than a month later, he tore his ACL and spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve.
He was cut by the Cardinals at the end of training camp in 2019 and signed with the Houston Texans on Sept. 30, 2019. Owens spent most of that season on the practice squad, though he did make his NFL debut Nov. 21, 2019, against Indianapolis. Owens moved between the Texans’ practice squad and the active roster the next two seasons, playing in 13 games and making two starts. He enjoyed a breakout season in 2022, starting all 17 games for the Texans and ranking second on the team with 125 tackles. He also had one sack.
“I’m a big believer in adversity builds character, builds who you are. Me being someone cut five times — if I was first-round draft pick, I wouldn’t be the person I am today,” Owens said. “I’ve had so many things not go my way, I started to realize I’m stressing about wrong things. Attitude and effort, those are the things you’re going to control. The outcome is going to take care of itself.”
Owens signed with the Green Bay Packers as a free agent in May 2023, days after he and Biles returned from their Mexico wedding. He spent one season there, playing in all 17 games and making 11 starts. In addition to 74 tackles, he had a sack and a forced fumble, and he also recovered a fumble for a touchdown.
He signed a two-year deal with the Bears in March.
“I’m just a little more free-spirited (now) and I think Jonathan has helped. His career, with the uncertainty, has helped. I’ve just tried not to control everything that I can’t control anymore,” Biles said.
How does Olympic gymnastics scoring work?
A gymnastics routine gets two scores: One for difficulty, also known as the D score or start value, and one for execution. Every gymnastics skill has a numerical value, and the D score is the sum total of the skills in a routine. The execution score, or E score, reflects how well the skills were done. A gymnast starts with a 10.0, and deductions for flaws and form errors are taken from there. Add the D and E scores together, and that’s your total for an apparatus. (Vault scores will always be higher because it’s a single skill.)