Simone Biles wins gold, Suni Lee wins bronze in women's gymnastics all-around final

On Thursday, Simone Biles captured her second individual all-around gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

She fended off a tough challenge from Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade with a strong showing on the floor exercise. Defending gold medalist Suni Lee held on for bronze.

Biles and Andrade pushed each other all evening. They got things off to a competitive start on vault, where they both executed high-difficulty routines to the best of their abilities.

Biles's signature vault — the Yurchenko double pike, a move now named for her in Olympic competition — had a higher difficulty level than Andrade's Cheng. Biles finished with a large step while Andrade stuck her landing perfectly. Just six-tenths separated them once their points were tallied.

French-born Algerian gymnast Kaylia Nemour left the vault rotation in third, which became relevant as soon as the women moved on to uneven bars.

Nemour's massive routine was one of the highest-difficulty performances of the night, and she executed it with minimal fuss to deliver a stunning 15.533. Andrade was clean on bars and earned a 14.666, while Biles struggled on a low bar transition and netted a disappointing 13.733. As the lights dimmed on the second rotation, Andrade and Nemour had leapfrogged Biles and pushed her into third.

Team USA got a big boost on bars from the defending all-around gold medalist, Lee. She recovered from a nasty fall in warm-ups to execute a near-perfect routine at the end of the rotation, and her 14.866 pushed her toward medal contention.

We didn't have to wait long for Biles to make up for her mistake on the bars. She was the first gymnast to take to the beam in rotation three, and amid incredible pressure, Biles delivered a near-perfect routine to amp up the pressure on Andrade and Nemour. She was grinning before landing her dismount, safe in knowing she'd rescued her gold medal chances.

Andrade responded gamely to Biles's challenge, throwing down a clean, solid routine — one highlighted by Biles's audible cheers of support. Despite their rivalry, Andrade and Biles have always maintained strong mutual respect.

"I've grown such affection for her," Andrade said of Biles in the Washington Post. When Andrade suffered an ACL injury in competition, it was Biles who sat with her and urged her to fight through her recovery. "It was such a kind moment, so affectionate, because there was no one else around," Andrade recalled . "She told me, 'Don't give up. You're talented. And you're going to get past this."

Biles and Andrade entered the final rotation with less than two-tenths of a point separating their overall scores. The gold medal came down to the difficulty and execution of their floor routines — and Biles came through, staying in bounds for every one of her massive tumbling passes.

Lee's clutch performance on the floor earned her the bronze medal, making her the first woman to earn another individual all-around medal after winning a gold since Nadia Comaneci. Lee bounced back from a severe kidney illness in 2023 to earn her spot on this team, and her joy upon winning bronze was palpable.

Biles will compete three more times at these Olympics: she qualified for the vault finals on Aug. 3 and the beam and floor finals on Aug. 5. Lee will compete in the bar final on Aug. 4 and the beam final on Aug. 5.