Paris: Simone Biles had a left calf muscle niggle over the last few days. It was worrying, for sure. On Tuesday night, at the Bercy Arena in Paris, the iconic gymnast had the audience watch with jaws gaping as she was in show-stopping mode. Guiding Team Team USA to the team gold in the Paris 2024 Olympics was defining, indeed.
One more medal win for Simone, her eighth in the Summer Olympics, which includes five golds has already set social media on fire. There is a new phrase coined for her, not GOAT but GOATEST! As it were, GOAT, meant Greatest Of All Time.
From the time Simone scorched the US trials back home around five weeks
ago, the hype had begun. This is just a teaser, a promo of
sorts as to what more she will do in these Olympics, as she has a few more events to go through later. Medal chances in all!
To be in the team event with Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee, Jade Carry and Hezly Rivera was mind blowing as the Americans totalled 171.296 points. To say Simone had the audience in raptures and her teammates also fired up the arena would be no exaggeration.
When Simone hit the arena, music from Beyonce and Taylor Swift rent the air. This is one sport, where music makes it more enchanting than the twists and turns the artistic gymnasts produce inside the arena. Nobody minds it that Simone is supreme and hear teammates are happy to perform and support her.
In Tokyo, Simone Biles was a mental wreck. How she has bounced back, found love in her life and joy has been one of the most romantic stories in sport. Indeed, her mother and even Serena Williams, the diva of tennis watched the Americans dazzle.
As they went through the motions which left you in a daze, applause was instantaneous. Paris had been warming up to Simone and this was the perfect evening on Tuesday. As the teammates, led by Simone topped the event
and grabbed the Star and Stripes flag, it was even more loud. If artistry had to be showcased in style, Simone
and her teammates were producing mind blowing stuff. The crème de la crème had come to watch, including her husband Jonathan Owens, who showed up from the USA. The American football star was not happy just to
be cheering in front of TV
sets and boarded a flight to Paris. He had taken permission from his team in Lake Forest to come for the Olympics and proudly announced it as well on social media.
They say, behind every successful man, there is a woman. In the case of Simone Biles, it is vice versa. Owens has literally floored Simone with love and lent a new meaning to her life. To battle mental health issues after the ugly coach Larry Nassar “exploitation” scars was tough. It’s just that Simone bounced back and in the last 17 months has become more confident.
To say that she is a diva would be putting it mildly. For a country like the USA which boasts of so many superstars, Simone Biles is a legend. Three Olympics in a row and with a calf strap, this has been defining for herself and the audience.
“We’re super excited. We’re honoured to represent the US every time we get on a world stage, but accomplishing
that gold and that goal was
just an amazing feeling,” said Simone later in the mixed zone. “I think we all had something to prove from Tokyo (2020 Olympic Games)
and tonight we did just that.
It means the world. This was our goal going in, even though we didn’t share it with everybody because it’s just a personal thing that we were working on,” added the champion.