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Simone Biles wins Gold Medal in women's gymnastics vault final at 2024 Paris Olympics

IMG_6598by: Nick Kosko08/03/24nickkosko59
BILES WINS
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Simone Biles won the women’s vault at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a 15.300 average score, securing yet another Olympic Gold Medal.

Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade scored a 14.966 in an anticipated run. Andrade won Gold at the 2020 games following Biles’ withdrawing from four events in Tokyo. Team USA’s Jade Carey took Bronze with a 14.446.

Following her run at the vault Saturday, Biles’ 15.300 average score led the next best by over a full point at that time.

To score the event, gymnasts in the women’s and men’s vault finals must perform two different vaults from two different vault groups. The average score of the two vaults is then averaged out to give a final apparatus score.

On Thursday, Biles won the all-around with a score of 15.766, beating out Andrade, who had a 15.1. It was a return to form for Biles following her withdrawal from multiple events in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Simon Biles avoids Olympic cafeteria due to popularity

Olympic athletes are not permitted to leave the Olympic village and have to stay within its parameters. Unfortunately, Biles’ popularity left her cooped up in her room for the most part, she said.

“I have not done much around the Olympic village,” she said. “And it’s because the first day that we got here, and I got to the cafeteria, a lot of people were asking me for photos non-stop and whenever I sat down to eat, my anxiety was so bad I was shaking. I couldn’t stop shaking.

“I was so overwhelmed and so for a little while — I went to cafeteria with my friend yesterday, but before that, I haven’t gone back to the cafeteria for like five days. I just go to the store, stock up on food and just stay [in my room] because it gets me so anxious.”

Biles is a big fish in a big pond, which means she sticks out from the rest. The most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history with eight medals, Biles was the talk of Olympic play well before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

She famously withdrew herself from multiple events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in an attempts to prioritize her mental health and safety. Biles dubbed her Olympic run in 2024 a redemption tour, and two gold medals later she has more than exceeded expectations in Paris over the past week.