Balance Beam, Women

Simone Biles finished only seventh in qualifying for the beam, which saw the Chinese pair of Guan Chenchen and Tang Xijing occupy first and second places. Biles won the beam bronze medal in Rio but was having mental health issues in Tokyo and, after pulling out during the all-round team competition, she then missed the all-round individual and three of the four apparatus finals, competing only in the beam. Her return to competition was warmly welcomed by her fellow contestants and she could not have wished for a better outcome. It was apparent the two Chinese girls were going to be too much of an obstacle to overcome, but Biles put in the performance of her life.

Tang was the second gymnast to go, and her 14.233 put her in the lead, but with Biles and Guan still to go. The American was next up and put herself into second place with a 14.000. After the recently crowned individual all-round champion Sunisa Lee finished on 13.866 and the remaining three contestants all finished below Biles, it was suddenly apparent she was winning a medal, although, with Guan still to go, it was unlikely to stay at silver and a polished performance saw her win China’s first women’s gymnastics gold of the Games, and secure another 1-2 for China, thanks to a score of 14.633. It was also the first women’s gymnastics gold for China since Deng Linlin, also on the beam, at London 2012.

The story of this event was not about yet more Chinese domination, but it was about the emotional, and successful return to the sport for one of its most popular characters, Simone Biles who had overcome what had been known as the “twisties”, a term used when a gymnastics body and brain seem to stop working together. The applause from everybody inside the Ariake Gymnastics Centre for Biles, before and after her routine, was one of those moments that will remain in the memory of those present for a long time to come.