The Olympics may have started out in tragedy for Simone Biles, but they ended in a historic triumph for the greatest of all time.
A week after an emotional Biles withdrew from the team gymnastics final for her mental health, the 24-year-old returned to action on the balance beam Tuesday in Tokyo. Performing a simplified version of the routine she had unveiled during the qualifying round, Biles earned a 14.000, good enough for a third-place finish behind China's Chenchen Guan (14.633) and Xijing Tang (14.233).
The bronze medal, her second of these Olympics along with the team silver, tied Biles with Shannon Miller at seven earned making them the most decorated gymnasts to ever compete for Team USA. The former's four golds (compared to just two for Miller), five all-around, five floor exercise, and seven US national all-around championships leave little doubt that she has lived up to her legacy as her sports greatest.
Following the feat the superstar told ESPN that it wasn't easy pulling out of all those competitions.
"People just thought it was easy, but I physically and mentally was not in the right head space and I didn't want to jeopardize my health and my safety because, at the end of the day, it's not worth it. My mental and physical health is above all medals that I could ever win," Biles said. "To do beam, which I didn't think I was going to be, just meant the world to be back out there. And I wasn't expecting to walk away with the medal. I was just going out there doing this for me."
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