2024-07-29 16:35:02
NOTE: Spoiler alert below. Women’s gymnastics qualifications will air again in primetime starting at 6 p.m. on NBC 5
Simone Biles and Suni Lee will represent the United States in the individual all-around final at the 2024 Paris Olympics and will make history when they do.
When Biles, the 2016 Olympic all-around champion, and Lee, the 2020 Olympic all-around champion, take center stage on Thursday, August 1, it will be the first time two Olympic all-around champions will compete against each other in an Olympic all-around final.
On Sunday, Biles and Lee finished in first and third, respectively. Biles finished with a 59.566, while Lee finished with 56.132.
Lee clinched her spot with a monster bar routine that scored 14.866 and beat out her teammate Jordan Chiles for Team USA’s second individual all-around spot by just .067.
Chiles, who finished fourth with a 56.065, will not be able to compete in the all-around final due to a rule that allows only two athletes from each country to compete in the individual all-around finals.
Defending all-around gold medalist Suni Lee showed up and showed out, securing a chance to defend her title. The 3x Olympic medalist will also compete in the uneven bars and balance beam finals alongside teammate Simone Biles.
Biles scored a record high for women’s gymnastics, despite battling a calf issue that made for a dramatic debut.
During Biles’ 30-second warmup before floor, she was seen telling her coach, “uh oh, not good,” after prepping her signature skill, “the Biles,” for her floor routine.
Biles’ coach, Cecile Landi, said the gymnast “felt ‘a little pain in her calf'” while warming up on the floor. Landi said there were no current plans for Biles to withdraw from any competitions or change her routines and said she wasn’t concerned about her performance going forward.
The pain didn’t deter Biles, widely considered the greatest gymnast of all time.
The U.S. women’s gymnastics team clinched their spot in the team final after finishing in first place after the first two subdivisions with a 172.296.
Here’s how the top eight teams rank heading into finals:
| PLACE | TEAM | SCORE |
| 1 | USA | 172.296 |
| 2 | Italy | 166.861 |
| 3 | China | 166.628 |
| 4 | Brazil | 166.499 |
| 5 | Japan | 162.196 |
| 6 | Canada | 161.563 |
| 7 | Great Britain | 160.830 |
| 8 | Romania | 159.497 |
Team USA will compete for the chance to medal in the team final on Tuesday, July 30, at 11:15 a.m. CT on Peacock and will re-air in primetime at 7 p.m. CT. Individual All-Around will take place on Thursday, August 1, at 11:15 a.m. CT on Peacock and will re-air in primetime at 7 p.m. CT.
