What Happened in Simone Biles’s Vault
TOKYO — Simone Biles lost her way midair while vaulting in the women’s team final on Tuesday, then suddenly exited the competition, saying she wasn’t mentally prepared to compete. Biles’s absence created a bigger opening for the Russians, who won the gold.
Keeping her arms close to
her body increases her
rate of rotation.
With straight arms, she uses
shoulder strength to propel
herself into the air.
Flinging her arms out slows
her rotation, a sign she will
not complete 2½ twists.
Roundoff onto springboard
She lands low to ground and
lunges forward with her right leg.
Keeping her arms close
to her body increases
her rate of rotation.
Flinging her arms out slows
her rotation, a sign she will
not complete 2½ twists.
With straight arms, she uses
shoulder strength to propel
herself into the air.
Roundoff onto
springboard
She lands low to ground
and lunges forward
with her right leg.
Flinging her arms out
slows her rotation,
a sign she will not
complete 2½ twists.
With straight arms, she uses
shoulder strength to propel
herself into the air.
She lands low to ground
and lunges forward
with her right leg.
Flinging her
arms out slows
her rotation,
a sign she will
not complete
2½ twists.
She lands low to ground
and lunges forward.
Biles had planned to do an Amanar, a difficult vault with two-and-a-half twists. But, she said, she lost her bearings in the air. She completed only one-and-a-half twists, then stumbled out of her landing.
How each team scored on vault
12.5
13
13.5
14
14.5
15
ROC
FRA
Simone
Biles
GBR
USA
ITA
JPN
BEL
CHN
12.5
13
13.5
14
14.5
15
ROC
FRA
Simone
Biles
GBR
USA
ITA
JPN
BEL
CHN
Minutes later, U.S.A. Gymnastics confirmed that Biles had withdrawn from the competition, leaving the United States without its highest-scoring gymnast.
“I just felt like it would be a little bit better to take a back seat, work on my mindfulness,” Biles said after the competition, in which the United States took silver. “I didn’t want to risk the team a medal for, kind of, my screw ups, because they’ve worked way too hard for that.”
Without Biles, Sunisa Lee Nails Uneven Bars
How each team scored on the uneven bars
12.5
13
13.5
14
14.5
15
15.5
Sunisa
Lee
ROC
USA
GBR
BEL
Nina
Derwael
ITA
FRA
CHN
JPN
12.5
13
13.5
14
14.5
15
15.5
Sunisa
Lee
ROC
USA
GBR
BEL
Nina
Derwael
ITA
FRA
CHN
JPN
Under intense pressure, Sunisa Lee responded, connecting some of the hardest maneuvers done on the uneven bars. Lee scored a 15.4, which would tie Nina Derwael of Belgium for the highest bars score of the Olympics so far.
Front flip
Salto down
to the lower bar
Preparing to
release en route
to the high bar
Front flip
Flip down to
the lower bar
Preparing to
fling herself to
the high bar
Front flip
Flip down
to the lower bar
Preparing to
fling herself to
the high bar
Front flip
Flip down
to the lower bar
Preparing to
fling herself to
the high bar
Above, Lee is shown doing a front flip, called a piked Jaeger, above the high bar, then immediately going into another flip, a Pak salto, down to the lower bar. At just the right moment, she puts her toes on the bar as her momentum propels her body back to the high bar, completing a half twist midair.
Russia’s Listunova outscores on balance beam
How each team scored on balance beam
11
11.5
12
12.5
13
13.5
14
CHN
USA
JPN
ROC
ITA
Viktoria
Listunova
GBR
FRA
BEL
11
11.5
12
12.5
13
13.5
14
CHN
USA
JPN
ROC
Viktoria
Listunova
ITA
GBR
FRA
BEL
Viktoria Listunova’s Russian teammates were depending on her after two of them fell. She performed difficult acrobatics and beautiful leaps, ending her routine with a roundoff into two flips in a tucked position, shown below.
Double tuck
Roundoff
Double tuck
Roundoff
Double tuck
Roundoff
Double tuck
Roundoff
She lunged backward on the dismount, but her mostly clean routine meant Russia skirted disaster.
U.S. falters on floor exercise
How each team scored on floor exercise
12
12.5
13
13.5
14
Angelina
Melnikova
ROC
ITA
Viktoria
Listunova
GBR
JPN
FRA
BEL
Jordan
Chiles
CHN
USA
12
12.5
13
13.5
14
ROC
Viktoria
Listunova
ITA
GBR
JPN
FRA
BEL
Jordan
Chiles
CHN
USA
Angelina Melnikova secured the gold for the Russians. She was the last competitor on floor exercise, where Jordan Chiles, who trains with Biles in Texas, fell.
Roundoff
Double layout
Back handspring
Roundoff
Double layout
Back handspring
Roundoff
Double layout
Back handspring
Double layout
Roundoff
Back handspring
Above, a roundoff and back handspring generated the power for a double layout — two flips with her body outstretched. At the end of the pass, Melnikova bounced back but remained in bounds, avoiding a penalty.
Without Biles, the Americans needed to be nearly perfect, and they weren’t. They ranked lower than in 2016 on each apparatus.
How the U.S. ranked in each apparatus since 1996
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2021
Vault
2
5
2
1
1
1
4
Bars
1
2
1
2
3
1
2
Beam
2
6
3
1
1
1
2
Floor
1
3
3
3
1
1
8
Before the pandemic, the Americans’ high scores at the World Championships allowed them to handily beat the Russians in team events.
How this year’s performances compared to previous years
2020 Tokyo Olympics
World Championship Finals 2018 or 2019
12.5
13
13.5
14
14.5
15
15.5
Lower scores this year than in previous years
Biles
Vault
Lee
Floor
McCallum
Vault
McCallum
Floor
Higher scores this year than in previous years
Lee
Bars
Lee
Beam
McCallum
Bars
2020 Tokyo Olympics
World Championship Finals 2018 or 2019
13
14
15
Lower scores this year than in previous years
Biles
Vault
Lee
Floor
McCallum
Vault
McCallum
Floor
Higher scores this year than in previous years
Lee
Bars
Lee
Beam
McCallum
Bars
These Games have made clear that Russia has closed the gap with the United States. In the qualifying round, the Russians beat the Americans by over a point.
“We knew the Russians were that good, so no surprises,” said Jess Graba, Lee’s coach.
The U.S. gymnasts have won a medal in every Olympic team event since 1992, winning the gold three times. They last won silver in 2008.
The Americans and Russians have a long rivalry at the Olympics
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2021
TCH
HUN
USA
URS
HUN
TCH
URS
HUN
ROU
URS
TCH
ROU
URS
TCH
JPN
URS
TCH
GDR
URS
GDR
HUN
URS
ROU
GDR
URS
ROU
GDR
ROU
USA
CHN
URS
ROU
GDR
EUN
ROU
USA
USA
RUS
ROU
ROU
RUS
USA
ROU
USA
RUS
CHN
USA
ROU
USA
RUS
ROU
USA
RUS
CHN
ROC
USA
GBR
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Gold
TCH
URS
URS
URS
URS
URS
URS
URS
URS
ROU
URS
EUN
USA
ROU
ROU
CHN
USA
USA
ROC
Silver
HUN
HUN
HUN
TCH
TCH
TCH
GDR
ROU
ROU
USA
ROU
ROU
RUS
RUS
USA
USA
RUS
RUS
USA
Bronze
USA
TCH
ROU
ROU
JPN
GDR
HUN
GDR
GDR
CHN
GDR
USA
ROU
USA
RUS
ROU
ROU
CHN
GBR
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2021
Russia had never won an Olympic team event as an independent nation until now, though the Soviet Union had dominated the sport for decades.