Simone Biles comically crawled at one point on Sunday at the Paris Olympics. She hopped on one leg. She even landed on her knees in a vault warmup.
It seemed she would do anything to take the weight off a lower left leg injury that she appeared to sustain at the end of a tumbling sequence in floor exercise practice.
When she had her ankle area taped after her solid rotation on the balance beam, this became the story:
It didn’t look good for the gymnastics star, who was returning to the Olympics after a 2021 Games in which she experienced mental health issues and a battle with disorientation in the air.
But when it came time to resume competition in qualifying, the 2016 all-around gold medalist shined.
She finished first in the all-around in her qualifying group with 59.566 points, 3.434 ahead of teammate Suni Lee, the defending Olympic all-around champion, who was second. Jordan Chiles came in third. The American squad easily qualified for the team final. Biles and Lee were assured of a spot in the all-around final, pitting two Olympic champs against each other for the first time, The Athletic reported.
Biles, considered perhaps the greatest gymnast of all time, showed her heart and grit to get there.
Her coach, Cecile Landi, said Biles had been dealing with calf pain that intensified on Sunday.
“I’m really proud of her and what she’s been through and what she’s showing the world what she’s capable of doing,” Landi said, according to The Associated Press.