Everything You Need to Know About the 2024 Olympic Gymnastics Individual Finals
At the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the gymnastics teams strived for podium placement during the individual event finals at Bercy Arena.
Vault Rotation
August 3 started the individual event final on vault. Representing Team USA at the Olympic Games were legendary Simone Biles and teammate Jade Carey. Biles and Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade were expected to take the lead. After qualifying with a 15.300 earlier in the week, Biles competed in two separate vault attempts. She brought home a gold medal, earning a score of 15.700 on her signature Yurchenko double pike and a 14.900 on her second vault, a Cheng.
Jade Carey redeemed herself after her 2020 Tokyo vault mishap. During the last Olympics, the athlete messed up her running steps, causing her to complete an unfinished vault, which lowered her score. This year, she landed a perfect Cheng and a clean double-twisting Yurchenko on her second attempt. Carey’s outstanding performance secured her a bronze medal. She excitedly stated, “This medal means everything to me.” She added, “It was one of my biggest motivators to get back here.”
Two American queens! https://t.co/RdSmlhaKTr
— Poor Lawyer (@poorlawyer) August 3, 2024
Uneven Bars Rotation
On August 4, Suni Lee performed a perfect bars routine, earning her a spot on the podium with bronze. Competing last in the event, she completed her dismount with a full-twisting double back and scored 14.800. To her surprise, she made it to the podium and could not contain her excitement.
Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour, 17, made history as Africa’s first Olympic medalist in gymnastics. She earned a gold medal after performing a nearly perfect routine with a 7.2 difficulty level, scoring 15.700, 0.200 points ahead of Qiyuan with silver.
Balance Beam Rotation
On August 5, the question of who would make it to the podium was in the air when almost every gymnast took a fall on the balance beam. After falls and wobbles, gymnasts stated that the event felt unusual. Lee stated, “It was too quiet. I could literally hear myself breathing.”
The entire arena became breathless as they watched the gymnasts perform. With no music or cheering in the background, the athletes expressed that the atmosphere shifted when they competed. Due to all the falls, Italy’s Alice D’Amato had a solid routine and earned a gold medal after scoring 14.366.
She had such heartbreak in all around and uneven bars final but now she’s an Olympic Champion! On beam!!!!! https://t.co/dswUpQX1NQ
— Poor Lawyer (@poorlawyer) August 5, 2024
Floor Rotation
On August 5, the gymnasts stepped to the floor exercise, exceeding all expectations. Andrade took the lead with Biles, and Jordan left to go. During warm-ups, Biles fell on her first tumbling pass and received medical attention to rewrap her calf. Her floor routine was clean, but she stepped out of bounds twice, causing a sixth-tenth deduction and leading her to secure second place.
Jordan Chiles needed higher than 13.700 to place on the podium. She performed a high-energy routine, smiling as she walked off the mat. She scored 13.666, which placed her sixth, but her coach called for an inquiry to reevaluate her score. Chiles received her official score of 13.766, which bumped her to a bronze medal. Filled with tears, she jumped up and down before falling to the floor joyfully.
After Biles and Chiles received their medals, representing true sportsmanship, they knelt and bowed down as Andrade stepped onto the top podium with her first gold of the 2024 Olympics.
This is community. Simone encouraged Jordan & Rebeca not to give up competing while crafting her own comeback. From that:
— Whitney Alese (@TheReclaimed) August 5, 2024
– Rebeca’s win made Brazilian history
– Jordan's 1st individual medal win
– THE 1ST ALL BLACK PODIUM IN OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS HISTORY
ALL BECAUSE OF COMMUNITY. pic.twitter.com/sNm9YjtUE1
Click here to watch the Women’s Individual All-Around Artistic Gymnastics Final.
