Simone Biles makes long-awaited Olympic return in Paris

PARIS >> A radiant Simone Biles made her long-awaited Olympic comeback Sunday at the Paris Olympics to loud cheers and applause from a star-studded audience. Her performance gave the American gymnasts the lead in the women’s qualifying events.

The world’s most decorated gymnast returned for her third Olympics after abruptly withdrawing from the team final at the Tokyo Games due to so-called “twisties,” a term used to describe the temporary loss of spatial awareness while performing events of high difficulty.

Biles also withdrew from the all-around and several apparatus finals in Tokyo, raising questions about whether she would ever set foot in an Olympic arena again.

But after a two-year break, with the help of her teammates and a therapist, she made a glorious comeback in Paris, performing in front of a crowd at the Bercy Arena, where celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Lady Gaga and Snoop Dogg were among the performers, cementing her status as one of the greatest athletes of all time.

Biles, 27, showed she is back to win more glittering gold medals, setting a milestone in the all-around competition by provisionally topping the qualifying rankings with a score of 59.566, more than three points ahead of her nearest challenger and reigning Olympic champion Sunisa Lee.

Biles began on the balance beam, perhaps the most difficult event to begin on, and received 14.733 points, just 0.133 behind Zhou Yaqin of China. Wearing a glittering leotard encrusted with thousands of Swarovski crystals, Biles smiled and breathed as she glanced up at the scoreboard, seemingly relieved after completing an impressive performance on the first of four events.

However, she seemed less pleased with her floor exercise, which, while showing some hiccups, still earned her a score of 14.600, taking the lead in the event.

Biles, who competed with her left ankle taped, shook off her somber look after the floor exercise and cleared a stunning 15.300 meters on the vault.

Biles’ two-point Yurchenko vault is so difficult that its starting value is several tenths of a point higher than any other vault that female gymnasts will perform at the Paris Games.

“I think she just competes on her own,” British gymnast Ruby Evans said of Biles. “We’ve never had anyone like her and I don’t think we ever will again.”

Biles did not perform the original uneven bars routine she submitted for approval on Sunday, but she will get another chance during the women’s final on Tuesday.

After nailing her dismount, a beaming Biles high-fived her coach Laurent Landi and ran to the edge of the mat to wave and blow kisses to the euphoric crowd. Her score of 14.433 provisionally placed her in eighth place in the standings, meaning she is unlikely to appear in the bars final, as there were still three subdivisions to qualify later on Sunday.

USA’s Jordan Chiles started her second Games strongly with solid performances on all apparatus.

Lee, who also won bronze on the bars in Tokyo, had the third-highest score on the apparatus. Her battle with kidney disease raised doubts about her ability to compete.

Biles’ compatriot Jade Carey fell at the end of her final tumbling pass on the floor exercise, a costly mistake that means she will not be able to defend her Olympic title on the apparatus in Paris.

There were gasps of disbelief in the arena as Carey stumbled backward and sat on the mat. The mishap left her with a score of 10.633, placing her last out of 30 gymnasts who had competed on floor up to that point.

Only the top eight athletes, maximum two per country, advance to the apparatus finals.