The Guardian

Olympic gymnastics: Simone Biles misses gold on floor as Andrade take title – as it happened

By Beau Dure,

4 hours ago

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1OlIYk_0unstG5300 — Simone Biles celebrates her silver medal on the floor with Jordan Chiles, who took bronze. Photograph: Morry Gash/AP

2.47pm BST

What a surprising, stunning final day of gymnastics!

The moral of the story here: Take nothing for granted.

No one was surprised to see the USA and Biles take gold in the team and all-around. No one was surprised by seeing Lee, Chiles and Carey take medals. All told, they took eight of a possible 11 medals and three of a possible six golds.

But gymnasts are always a moment, an instant, an inch away from missing it. They have to be perfect, then perfect again.

So this day should serve as a reminder how astounding the big-time performers really are when they keep hitting their routines in the big time. Andrade did it every time, putting pressure on Biles throughout and finally breaking through in the floor exercise when Biles was four steps less than perfect in one of the most difficult routines anyone could ever do.

The reason they can’t afford any slip-ups is that there are a lot of really good gymnasts here. Italy is leaving today with two worthy medalists – Alice d’Amato and Manila Esposito on balance beam.

Some favorites also faltered in the men’s events, but China’s Zou Jingyuan and Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka came through.

Forget the medal count for a moment. This was breathtaking. And it ends with Rebeca Andrade , who has had the misfortune of being one of the greatest of all time while the greatest of all time is competing, stepping onto the top step of the podium while her US rivals and friends literally bow in her direction.

Bryan Armen Graham was there and has this report. Thanks for following along in the early hours in the USA or the whatever hours wherever you are.

Updated at 3.03pm BST

2.37pm BST

Tears, tears, everywhere. Biles and Chiles are hugging, and Chiles is overcome. Chiles’ parents are hugging and high-fiving. Jade Carey’s jaw drops.

We’re not getting shot of the Romanian camp, who must have thought that even if the Maneca-Voinea inquiry changed nothing, they’d still get bronze thanks to Barbosu.

2.35pm BST

Chiles bumped up to bronze

NBC hasn’t caught it yet, but the results feed says Chiles has a 13.766. Bronze!

Romania might be furious about that.

Updated at 2.54pm BST

2.34pm BST

Rebeca Andrade wins floor exercise; Simone Biles silver

NBC says there’s an inquiry on Maneca-Voinea’s score. Can’t say I blame them. But will Chiles render that irrelevant by getting, say, a 13.900?

NO! It’s a 13.666. The inquiry leaves the score unchanged, so Barbosu takes a surprising bronze.

BUT … there’s an asterisk by Chiles’ score. Another inquiry?

Standings:
14.166 Andrade (BRA)
14.133 Biles (USA)
13.700 Barbosu (ROU)
13.700 Maneca-Voinea (ROU)
13.666 Chiles (USA)

Updated at 2.53pm BST

2.31pm BST

Big pass for Chiles … how did she land that? It looked underrotated, and she needed a small step forward.

But that might get onto the podium. It surely won’t catch Biles or Andrade.

2.30pm BST

Can Jordan Chiles get onto this podium? Her scores in qualifying and the team event would say yes.

Two acrobatic passes down – maybe a slight wobble on one, but not bad.

2.29pm BST

The Olympic results page is going berserk on me. It looks like she got a 13.700, same as Barbosu.

And it’s confirmed. Difficulty was only 5.900. Execution was 7.900. There’s a penalty of 0.1. Barbosu edges Maneca-Voinea on tiebreak. That seems wrong. (And I doubt there’ll be an accusation of bias – they’re both Romanian.)

2.27pm BST

Hang on a minute … Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea is up, and she looks quite good. She also does the change-of-direction flip forward after an acrobatic pass. Her feet stay in.

Her scores have ranged from 13.566 to 13.800.

Will that move her into second with one gymnast to go? Could Biles … be knocked off the podium??

2.24pm BST

The Biles breakdown …

Biles says, “I think Rebeca got this one.” And she’s right … maybe, because we have two to go.

Biles smiles and gives her friend Andrade a hug.

The difficulty was 6.9. Her execution was 7.833. Then she had an 0.6 penalty.

One fewer foot out of bounds, and Biles has a grasp on gold.

2.23pm BST

Stepping with both feet out of bounds is an 0.30 deduction. She did it twice.

Deduct 0.6 from her qualifying score, and …

It’s a 14.133 … behind Andrade!

2.21pm BST

Fourth pass … again, she’s so amped up that she travels too far and steps out of bounds.

If I knew the code of points, I’d know how much those deductions are.

But her difficulty score will be immense, and she remained upright despite the calf injury.

2.20pm BST

Third pass … NAILS the landing, just inside the line.

One more pass between her and gold …

Updated at 3.07pm BST

2.20pm BST

Second pass for Biles … big steps out of bounds. She has the cushion for that, but maybe no more.

2.19pm BST

Biles cracks a smile when introduced, as always. Here we go …

First pass … and she’s fine!

2.19pm BST

It’s a 13.600 for d’Amato, third behind Andrade and Barbosu.

Next up … Simone Biles. Oh boy. Will that calf hold?

2.18pm BST

Balance beam gold medalist Alice d’Amato (Italy) is up now. Her music starts out like someone is about to murdered in Game of Thrones. Then the drums kick in as she starts her acrobatic passes. She has one step out of bounds, and it doesn’t seem to be in the same difficulty range as Barbosu. But we shall see. She needs 13.166 for a tentative spot on the podium, bearing in mind that Biles, Maneca-Voinea and Chiles.

Over to Biles, who provides one of the quotes of the Games: “If one of these cameramen hits me one more time,” and then I think she said “we’re gonna have an issue.” We’ll need to replay that.

Do … not … cross … Simone Biles.

2.15pm BST

Barbosu is the first competitor here to do a flip and then immediately flip back the other direction. It’s impressive.

Biles is getting taped. Again.

She looks a little downcast. But she looked the same way in qualifying and pulled through. They show the warmup again, and it seemed she favored one leg on landing.

Would the adrenaline of a final appearance in these Games help her power through?

Barbosu passes Kishi with a 13.700, her best score in four attempts on the floor here.

Updated at 3.09pm BST

2.12pm BST

Uh oh. Biles had an issue with her calf in qualifying but shook it off and posted big numbers. Now, in her warmup, she takes a fall. Is she OK this time?

Kishi’s score was posted during the break – 13.166, up to second.

Ana Barbosu (Romania) is up. I care less for this music. I think that’s the reason she stepped out of bounds.

2.08pm BST

I’m a musician (hobbyist, very occasionally paid) and not a gymnast, so I can judge the music better than I can judge the gymnastics. Rishi’s is awesome. But she may have stepped out after an acrobatic sequence, and she loses her footing on some simple steps and has to catch herself.

Forget the medals for a bit – floor exercise is just fun to watch. Rishi may pass Ou but won’t threaten Andrade, but she can be happy with that routine.

2.06pm BST

Ou will take a 13.000. No surprise.

Rina Kishi of Japan is just 16. Here she goes …

Updated at 2.17pm BST

2.03pm BST

Ou’s scores have been all over the place in three attempts on the floor in Paris. A solid 13.666 in qualifying got her here. She slipped to 12.733 in the team event and had a disastrous 11.933 in the all-around.

This time may be in between. She steps out of bounds on her second acrobatic pass. The difficulty definitely isn’t in the Andrade range, let alone Biles.

It’s a pretty routine to watch, though, with enticing Chinese music. Maybe an outside shot at the podium?

2.00pm BST

Reminder: Andrade had a 13.900 in qualifying, a 14.200 in the team event and a 14.033 in the all-around. This should be comparable.

Biles applauds. She wants to see her Brazilian rival hit that routine.

Score is 14.166. And she puts on some glasses, like some US men’s gymnast apparently does …

China’s Ou Yushan is up.

Updated at 2.18pm BST

1.59pm BST

Andrade goes straight into an acrobatic sequence with too many moves to adequately describe here. Her second pass is only slightly less dazzling. Both landings have been solid. Her third landing is also excellent.

A fourth pass, which not all gymnasts do, and it’s just as good, maybe with a slight step on her landing.

Biles is going to have an advantage on the difficulty score. But with what Andrade just did, Biles’ margin for error might not be that big. Andrade will surely medal, and the pressure will be on Biles to earn that gold.

1.56pm BST

Esposito’s score is 12.133.

Don’t change the channel. Rebeca Andrade is up next. She has two silver medals and a bronze in Paris. She may have deserved a medal on the beam, but to be fair, she did downgrade her difficulty.

That probably won’t happen here …

1.55pm BST

At long last, because the pacing of events at Bercy Arena is rather languid, it’s Manila Esposito of Italy.

She lands on her knees after her first acrobatic pass and doesn’t seem to be 100% after that. But she rebounds with a nice combination. Unfortunately, she takes several steps backwards and out of bounds on the third pass.

But Esposito will leave with a silver from the team event and bronze from the balance beam. Not bad at all.

1.48pm BST

Floor exercise order

Esposito (ITA)
Andrade (BRA)
Ou (CHN)
Kishi (JPN)
Barbosu (ROU)
D’Amato (ITA)
Biles (USA)
Maneca-Voinea (ROU)
Chiles (USA)

1.47pm BST

For those obsessing over the medal count …

… which I really shouldn’t be doing because it can take the focus away from outstanding achievements, and the international insistence on focusing on gold rather than total devalues the awesome accomplishments of silver and bronze medalists. But anyway …

The gold medal count is now China 21, USA 19. Then a long drop to France with 12.

My projections, adding future events to the ones that have taken place, have the USA at 38.5 to China’s 35.

If Biles or Chiles wins, that projection only goes up to 38.75 because the USA are heavily favored here. If they don’t win, the projection drops to 37.75.

The USA will have several opportunities for gold the rest of the day – mixed team skeet, women’s discus, women’s 800m, women’s surfing. China’s best bet is the women’s team sprint in cycling.

1.42pm BST

Is this our last glimpse of Simone Biles at the Olympics?

We don’t know. She hasn’t ruled out a run at the 2028 Games. She could take time off and come back. Or she could keep seeking more world championship medals.

But just in case – watch this, either now or on a highlight reel later, and savor.

1.40pm BST

Lineup for the women’s floor exercise, the final gymnastics event in Paris …

“Artistic” gymnastics, anyway. We’ll still have rhythmic gymnastics.

Qualifying scores:
14.600 Biles (USA)
13.900 Andrade (BRA)
13.866 Chiles (USA)
13.800 Maneca-Voinea (ROU)
13.700 D’Amato (ITA)
13.666 Ou (CHN)
13.633 Esposito (ITA)
13.600 Barbosa (ROU)
13.600 Kishi (JPN)

Yes, nine gymnasts. They tied for eighth in qualifying.

Team event scores:
14.666 Biles, even with an 0.2 penalty
14.200 Andrade
13.966 Chiles
13.900 Maneca-Voinea
13.566 Barbosu
13.466 D’Amato
13.433 Kishi
12.733 Ou
12.666 Esposito

All-around scores:
15.066 Biles, nailing down gold with authority
14.033 Andrade, yes, second place was 1.033 back
13.566 Barbosu
13.500 D’Amato
13.233 Kishi
12.733 Esposito
11.933 Ou

You get the idea. Biles can make a mistake or two here and still win handily. Her difficulty score in the team event was 6.9. No one else tried anything above 5.9.

And this is a more forgiving event. No beam or bar from which to fall. Yes, things can go awry, as they did for Ou in the all-around. But this should be more predictable, with Biles and Andrade finishing 1-2 and Chiles battling the two Romanians for bronze.

But the Italians have a ton of momentum and confidence after taking gold and bronze on the beam.

1.27pm BST

Shinnosuke Oka wins horizontal bar for his third gold medal of the Games

The podium:

14.533 Oka (JPN)
14.533 Barajas (COL), silver on tiebreak
13.966 Zhang (CHN)
13.966 Tang (TPE)

Tang fell flat on the mat midway through his routine. Zhang needed a couple of steps to steady himself on the dismount. They’ll share bronze.

Oka and Barajas were simply brilliant. They didn’t just make the fewest mistakes. They were sublime. Barajas was especially courageous in tackling such a stunning routine.

Updated at 2.12pm BST

1.24pm BST

Srbic gets 11.333.

Su Weide gets his first release. And his second, though it’s straight with no twists. His third release is an acrobatic one, and he catches solidly.

It looks great …

… until the landing, with another step forward!

Colombia’s team embraces Barajas and weeps. It looks like he’ll take silver behind Oka. Then Zhang and Tang will likely share bronze.

Maybe. Is Su’s awkward landing worse than what happened with Zhang and Tang?

Apparently so. The difficulty score was only a 6.0, compared to the 6.5s for Zhang and Tang. It’s a 14.433.

1.19pm BST

Croatia’s Tin Srbic lands on his face. That may be all you need to know. He unwraps his hands, and I’m not sure he’s going to continue. Shot of the crowd – Jade Carey’s jaw dropped.

Srbic rewraps and resumes. He bungles a transition and loses all of his momentum, then drops to the mat. He walks over to the side of the mat. Will he continue again?

Indeed he does. The crowd roars in appreciation. He doesn’t have much left of the routine, but he sticks the landing for an appreciative crowd.

Barajas will take a medal for Colombia.

Su Weide will have the final word. Brilliant in qualifying, big falls in the team event.

1.16pm BST

It’s a 13.966, tied for third with Tang. They had matching difficulty (6.5) and execution (7.466) scores.

1.14pm BST

To my untrained eye, it looks like Zhang is making his catches late. But he’s going strong … until the landing, when he takes two big steps forward.

The elusive gold will remain elusive. Might be on the podium, though. There’s a lot of space in the standings between silver and bronze right now.

1.12pm BST

It’s 11.633 for Sugino.

Here’s Zhang Boheng . The favorite. Silver in team and all-around. He might want this more than anyone else in the field.

1.10pm BST

Takaaiki Sugino gets HUGE air on his first release. And he gets it again on the second, but he can’t catch the bar. It’s a hard landing, and he gets up slowly, more agitated than injured. But he raises an arm to the crowd before hopping back on and doing two more big aerials. It’s a big stumble on the landing, though. Tang will stay on the podium bubble for now.

Updated at 3.10pm BST

1.07pm BST

Marios Georgiou of Cyprus is the master of the one-armed swing and catch. Several of his catches are one hand first, then the other. He also manages one rotation hanging on with one arm. It’s impressive, but he face-plants on the landing. That’s surely enough to keep him out of medal contention, as impressive as that was.

We’ll have the score at some point …

It’s 13.333. Difficulty was 5.9. He’s not happy. I don’t think he would’ve challenged Oka and Barajas without the fall, but he surely would’ve been ahead of Tang.

Standings
14.533 Oka (JPN)
14.533 Barajas (COL)
13.966 Tang (TPE)
13.333 Georgiou (CYP)

1.03pm BST

NBC confirms that it was Heidi Gardner in the crowd. Personally, I’d be more star-struck by her than I would be by Tom Brady, but maybe I’m a bitter fan of the other 30 NFL teams.

Score for Barajas …

…

… any time now …

14.533 – he’s tied with Oka, but execution score is the top tiebreaker, so he’s in second. The difficulty was 6.6. Execution was 7.933.

Boo. Maybe technically correct, but definitely no fun.

1.00pm BST

Barajas has one stunning release. Then another, and it’s a combination!

Leave it to the judges to find some little mistake here or there, but he just did one of the most daring routines anyone will ever see, and he caught himself cleanly each time and landed solidly.

Was that Saturday Night Live’s Heidi Gardner in the crowd?

12.59pm BST

Oka is so consistent. He had a 14.533 in qualifying. He lands a 14.533 here. That’s 5.9 difficulty and 8.633 execution.

Now up: Colombia’s Angel Barajas. He’s 17 and will have the highest difficulty scores if he isn’t forced to change it up on the fly.

12.57pm BST

Shinnosuke Oka took gold in the all-around, gold in the team event and bronze in the parallel bars. He barely catches the bar after a twisting aerial trick. He flings himself around and around, then sticks the landing.

OK, so Tang isn’t going to take gold …

12.54pm BST

The carnage continues.

Tang Chia-Hung is in the midst of a breathtaking routine, but he misses a catch and lands on the mat as if a pro wrestler body-slammed him.

But he returns to pull off a brilliant move, flinging himself high off the bar and twisting twice before catching it again. His dismount is flawless.

NBC’s commentators say he’s out of the running, but the way things are going in Bercy Arena today, who’s to say all eight gymnasts here won’t fall? I’m not really kidding.

Score is 13.966.

12.48pm BST

Men's horizontal bar lineup

China has a very good chance of extending its lead in the medal count. Gold medals, that is – the USA’s lead in total medals is virtually unassailable.

Qualification scores were:

15.133 Zhang Boheng (CHN)
14.933 Tang Chia-Hung (TPE)
14.733 Takaaki Sugino (JPN)
14.600 Tin Srbic (CRO)
14.533 Shinnosuke Oka (JPN)
14.466 Angel Barajas (COL)
14.400 Su Weide (CHN)
14.366 Marios Georgiou (CYP)

Su had a pair of costly falls in the team event. Zhang posted a 14.733. Sugina was at 14.566. Oka had a 14.433. The other four weren’t in it.

Only two of these gymnasts were in the all-around, and their scores were lower – Zhang at 14.633, Oka at 14.500.

12.40pm BST

Let’s check the difficulty scores …

D’Amato 5.8
Zhou 6.6
Esposito 5.8
Andrade 5.7 – she must have really downsized from her earlier routines. It was 6.1 in the team event and the all-around. With a 6.1, she would’ve had a total score of 14.333, just behind d’Amato.

Biles and Lee had difficulties of 6.2, even with falls that interrupted some of what they had planned.

OK, onward …

12.29pm BST

Alice d'Amato wins balance beam gold

What … just … happened?

That’s shocking!

It’s a 13.933 for Andrade, as judges somehow found something.

Brilliant for d’Amato, but … really???!!!

GOLD: Alice d’Amato (Italy), 14.366
SILVER: Zhou Yaqin (China), 14.100
BRONZE: Manila Esposito (Italy), 14.000

Between the falls by Biles, Lee, Soares and Maneca-Voinea, the interminable waits for scores, and whatever they found to deduct from worthy winner Andrade, let us never speak of this competition again.

No, that’s not fair to d’Amato. It’s a golden moment for Italy. But of our four favorites, three faltered (Zhou managed to avoid falling but put both hands on the beam) and one … what happened?

Updated at 2.45pm BST

12.25pm BST

So, while we wait for Andrade’s scores, shall we watch a couple of movies?

Biles applauds. She and Andrade are the friendliest of rivals, and Biles would surely be perfectly happy to see the Brazilian take gold if she can’t have it herself.

12.24pm BST

This is it. Land the dismount for gold.

Nice.

Laurie Hernandez is hedging her bets. But surely …

12.23pm BST

Rebeca Andrade moves with the elegance and athleticism of Biles. She’s simply superb. Some of her landings seems slightly off-center.

The crowd sounds like everyone in the arena is holding their breath.

12.22pm BST

Rebeca Andrade has one gold medal in her glittering career – the vault in Tokyo. She has two straight silvers in the all-around behind Lee in Tokyo and Biles here. She also has a silver in the vault and bronze in the team event in Paris. A gold medal is in her grasp here.

Biles is getting angry as she waits a long time for her score. Someone hints that it might be for “TV time.” NBC is not at commercial, so don’t blame US broadcasters.

Please get on with it …

People in the crowd are furiously yelling various incomprehensible things.

Biles looks ready to destroy someone on social media.

Finally – 13.100. Fourth. Couldn’t have expected any more.

NOW we’ll get Andrade to wrap up an ugly competition with a lot of falls, stumbles and interminable waits …

12.17pm BST

It’s a big dismount for Biles, but she strides away with nary a smile.

She could still get in the high 13s, but she won’t crack the podium.

Only Rebeca Andrade stands between Alice d’Amato and a stunning gold for Italy.

12.15pm BST

Biles’ spins are impossible to describe. There’s a mastery we just don’t see elsewhere …

… and she just fell.

12.15pm BST

If you’re obsessing over the USA-China race in the gold medal standings, good news for US fans – China will not take gold.

Biles is up. And she looks good to start.

12.14pm BST

Another long wait. What do we have?

14.366! Alice d’Amato has clinched a medal.

Next up: Simone Biles. At The Guardian, we have minute-by-minute commentary on soccer and over-by-over on cricket. We’re going skill-by-skill for the GOAT.

Updated at 2.09pm BST

12.12pm BST

Alice d’Amato (Italy) doesn’t seem to have the grace or poise of the gymnasts who’ve come before her. But she’s gotten through most of her routine without falling. She seems to be gaining confidence as the routine goes on.

And her dismount is magnifique.

Not sure about the difficulty level, but she remained solidly on the beam. Surely ahead of Suni Lee to get on the podium for moment. Could she possibly take the lead – and clinch a medal?

12.10pm BST

Maneca-Voinea falls again. It’s sheer carnage in Bercy Arena today.

Score is … taking a while … come on, folks, she’s not on the podium. Let’s hurry it up.

My goodness, seriously. Let’s get a score. The crowd claps in impressive rhythm to no music. Maneca-Voinea looks ready to get on with the rest of her life (starting with the floor exercise at some point today).

Any day now, really …

All that wait for … 11.733. Last place. We knew that. Thanks. Move on.

Italy’s Alice d’Amato is up next, and given her scores so far in Paris, she seems unlikely to pass her teammate Esposito or Zhou.

12.05pm BST

It’s a 14.000 for Esposito. Solid 8.2 for execution, but it’s only 5.8 for difficulty. Zhou had 6.6.

Standings at halfway point
14.100 Zhou
14.000 Esposito
13.100 Lee
12.333 Soares

If Biles and/or Andrade hit their routines, even with a few wobbles here and there, they’re easily ahead of Zhou.

Next up: Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea …

… and she drops to the mat after her first sequence of somersaults.

12.01pm BST

Manila Esposito gets down to business right away, flipping onto the beam and doing an immediate sequence of somersaults.

She flips, wobbles, and she’s surely going to fall … but no! She saves it! On into a spin. Then a lovely move from straddling the bar up to a handstand.

It’s a shorter routine than the others, and she sticks the dismount.

Maybe not the start value of Zhou, and she did wobble a bit, but will that put her in the lead at the halfway point?

Updated at 2.05pm BST

11.58am BST

Soares took bronze in the team event, and she certainly earned it.

Today, it’s a 12.333.

Next up, another team event medalist, Italy’s Manila Esposito . Will she be the first to land her routine without a major mistake?

11.56am BST

Well now – Brazil’s Julia Soares has a spectacular imitation of a jellyfish to start with. She confidently lands a series of … oh no, she also fell. Such an unforgiving event. Seems unlikely that she’ll be ahead of Lee, let alone Zhou.

11.55am BST

Will the door open here for a D’Amato or a Maneca-Voinea? Two favorites have gone, and neither hit anything close to a perfect routine.

Lee’s score is 13.100. She’ll have to settle for her … OK, let’s look up the list … bronze in the all-around (gold in Tokyo), bronze in the uneven bars (matching her Tokyo bronze), gold in the team event (up from silver in Tokyo). Not bad from someone who recovered from kidney issues.

She went to Auburn, so as someone who grew up in the shadow of the University of Georgia, I feel obliged to make an SEC rivalry comment, but my heart isn’t in it. She’s too good.

11.52am BST

The USA’s Suni Lee takes a few deep breaths. She has looked like a bundle of nerves the whole time she’s been here, and then she just lands her routines when they matter most.

Beautiful spin, and her first somersaults go well. Hernandez spots a little bobble, but she recovers for a triple somersault combination … and lands hard on the beam before falling to the mat.

She bobbles again before landing a solid dismount. But you can’t fall all the way off the beam and expect a medal.

Updated at 12.10pm BST

11.50am BST

Zhou and her coach are staring with some consternation up at what we presume is the scoreboard, but the rest of us have not yet been told the score.

Finally – it’s a 14.100. The difficulty was 6.6, and she still manages a 7.500 execution.

Next up: Suni Lee.

11.47am BST

China’s Zhou Yaqin seems a little shaky on her first two landings, and NBC’s Laurie Hernandez notes that she has bailed out of part of a combination. She later has to put two hands on the beam to steady herself, which in the eyes of the judges is nearly as bad as falling.

It’s a steady second half of the routine with a one-step hop on the landing. But she’s going to have to hope Biles, Lee and Andrade slip up if she’s to take gold.

Updated at 2.03pm BST

11.45am BST

The order: Zhou, Lee, Soares, Esposito, Maneca-Voinea, D’Amato, Biles, Andrade.

So we’ll see the co-favorite for gold in this event up first. Zhou Yaqin is 18, with a world championship silver medal on the beam. Repeating – she had the top score in qualifying and the top score posted on the beam in any competition here so far, at 14.866.

11.42am BST

Another medal and another gold opportunity for the USA today: Austen Jewell Smith and Vincent Hancock will be in the mixed skeet final against Italy.

Back in Bercy Arena, we’re getting gymnast introductions, and you could probably hear the roar for Simone Biles in neighboring arrondissements .

11.37am BST

Medal count update:

Zou just took China’s second gold medal of the morning, so that tie atop the gold medal rankings didn’t last long. It’s now China 21, USA 19. But South Korea claimed the badminton gold, so China couldn’t run that lead to three.

The balance beam is one of the few events with legit gold medal contenders from the two front-runners going head-to-head.

My latest projections are USA 39, China 35.

For total medals, which draw less interest in the rest of the world than they do in the USA, judging by media and social media chatter (as one should not), the projection is USA 123, China 87. At some point, I’ll have to do projections for France – they have 44 total medals now, not far behind China’s 49.

Updated at 11.46am BST

11.32am BST

Women's balance beam lineup

Qualification scores were:

14.866 Zhou Yaqin (CHN)
14.733 Simone Biles (USA)
14.500 Rebeca Andrade (BRA)
14.033 Suni Lee (USA)
14.000 Sabrina Maneca-Voinea (ROU)
13.966 Manila Esposito (ITA)
13.866 Alice D’Amato (ITA)
13.800 Julia Soares (BRA)

But Zhou missed her routine in the team event, scoring 12.300. Biles did slightly worse (14.366), as did Andrade (14.133). Lee was the one who improved (14.600). D’Amato and Esposito roughly matched their qualifying scores. Soares only managed 12.400.

Biles posted the best score in the all-around at 14.566. Esposito was second among the beam qualifiers at 14.200, then Andrade at 14.133, D’Amato at 14.033 and Lee at 14.000. Zhou, Soares and Maneca-Voinea were not in the all-around.

This is the apparatus that strikes the most fear in the hearts of any gymnast. Flipping and landing blind on a 4-inch-wide piece of wood is one of those skills that baffle us mere mortals.

They’re holding the medal ceremony for the parallel bars first, so you’ve got time to caffeine up.

11.23am BST

Zou Jingyuan (CHN) wins his second straight parallel bars gold

Oka did indeed reach the podium: 6.5 difficulty, 8.8 execution, 15.300

GOLD: Zou (CHN), 16.200
SILVER: Kovtun (UKR), 15.500
BRONZE: Oka (JPN), 15.300

Next up: women’s balance beam. You know who’s coming up …

Updated at 2.01pm BST

11.21am BST

All-around champion Shinnosuke Oka of Japan swings through some impressive handstands and gets big air. His last big skill on the bars is a jump into a pike into a handstand … look, he’s very good. And his dismount was near perfect.

HAS to be at least bronze. Silver?

11.19am BST

Germany’s Lukas Dauser took silver in Tokyo. He’s the 2023 world champion on this event. He’ll have to go big to beat Zou.

Ouch. He bangs into the bars as he swings downward. But the rest is otherworldly, aside from a hop on the landing.

He injured his bicep in June, so getting to this stage is an accomplishment in itself. He probably won’t top his qualification score of 15.166. Did he beat 15.1 to get on the podium? He doesn’t seem to think so, and we have a longer wait for the scores than we have for the previous gymnasts.

The score is …

Come on, folks.

Difficulty 6.0, execution 7.7. That’s 13.700. I’d have to guess that his mishap also took out part of his planned routine.

One gymnast left – Vernaiev is guaranteed a medal.

11.15am BST

China’s Zou Jingyuan is a boss. Almost every time he goes to a handstand, he immediately gets his body in a perfect line. He flings himself the length of the bars like a salmon jumping upstream, if a salmon could also get to a full vertical handstand. His dismount is nearly perfect as well.

NBC’s commentators believe this is the best routine of all time. It’s surely the best tonight.

Difficulty 6.9, execution 9.3. That’s a 16.200. That matches his score from qualification, and still, we could be forgiven for thinking he deserved even more.

Updated at 1.58pm BST

11.11am BST

Ukraine’s Oleg Vernaiev isn’t quite getting set on his handstands, and then he gets crossed up moving from bar to bar and spins out to land on the mat.

Like all gymnasts do even when they know they’ve made a mistake that will keep them from the podium, he goes over to get some chalk and hops right back up for a flawless final 20 seconds or so.

He finishes with 13.300.

All eyes now on Zou Jingyuan , the defending champion and by far the highest scorer in qualification.

11.05am BST

Japan’s Wataru Tanigawa has a major bobble early in the routine, with his body leaning to about 2 o’clock before he managed to recover. He’ll have to be content with his gold in the team event. Poor guy.

Scores: 6.3 difficulty, 7.833 execution, 14.133. Fourth out of four with four to go.

Standings
15.500 Kovtun (UKR)
15.100 Zhang (CHN)
15.100 Arican (TUR)
14.133 Tanigawa (JPN)

Next up: Ukraine’s Oleg Vernaiev.

11.01am BST

Turkey’s Ferhat Arican , the bronze medalist in this event in Tokyo, is trying a routine similar to Kovtun’s, but even the untrained eye can see a few flaws. His handstands are bent or curved, not straight. Will the difficulty score put him in contention?

He seems thrilled, and the crowd roars in appreciation. He makes a heart shape with his hands in response.

Difficulty 6.900, execution 8.200 – 15.100, tied with Zhang.

10.58am BST

Next up, men’s all-around silver medalist Zhang Boheng . He does a dazzling leap, then springs all the way down the length of the bars from one end to the other.

He lands bent over with his head and chest down and takes a couple of moments to straighten out.

I would think what Zhang did was more difficult than what Kovtun did, but having attempted neither, I can’t say for sure.

Scores are in, and apparently, Zhang’s routine was simpler. His difficulty is 6.400, execution 8.700. That’s 15.100, a little under his previous efforts and well behind Kovtun, who bested his qualifying score here.

10.54am BST

Ukrain’s Illia Kovtun builds suspense with long, firmly held handstands. He doesn’t do anything spectacular in the air, and he has as little hop on the dismount, but his form in switching positions on his handstands is fluid and confident.

It’s a 15.500 – 7.000 difficulty, 8.500 execution. That’ll contend for a medal.

10.51am BST

There’s a nice ad for Hyundai airing in the USA about kids burning out on one sport and trying something else. It has multiple endings. I often see one with a young girl running off to play soccer with a big smile. Another ending features a boy fist-bumping as he walks into a breaking studio.

But every time my wife is in the room , it’s the latter.

This morning, it’s the soccer ending. I need to start recording it to prove to my wife that I’m not hallucinating.

The heavily inked Illia Kovtun is up first.

10.47am BST

NBC leads off its coverage by announcing that Tom Brady is in attendance.

Please tune in anyway, those of you who grumble about his 23-year run of good fortune that led the Patriots and Buccaneers to seven championships. All luck. Well, most of it.

10.37am BST

Men's parallel bars lineup

The top qualifier is China’s Zou Jingyuan , with a breathtaking 16.200. Teammate Zhang Boheng qualified second with a 15.333. Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka was next at 15.300, then Ukraine’s Oleg Vernaiev (15.266), Germany’s Lukas Dauser (15.166), Ukraine’s Illia Kovtun (15.166), Turkey’s Ferhat Arican (15.033) and Japan’s Wataru Tanigawa (15.000).

Kovtun turned in a slightly higher score in the team event at 15.433 and was the top performer on the apparatus in the all-around with a 15.400. He finished fourth overall behind Oka, Zhang and China’s Xiao Ruoteng.

10.31am BST

Preamble

Goooooooood morning, USA! Yes, it’s still dark, and many of you are still buzzing over Noah Lyles’ win yesterday, but it’s time to switch gears from the current fastest man to the women’s gymnastics GOAT, Simone Biles, who’ll share the stage today with Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Rebeca Andrade and Alice D’Amato on the final day of gymnastics competition.

Biles, Lee, Andrade and D’Amato are in the balance beam competition at 6:38 a.m. ET. Chiles replaces Lee in the floor exercise, today’s final event, at 8:23 a.m. ET.

We also have two men’s apparatus finals: horizontal bar at 7:33 a.m. ET, but up first, men’s parallel bars at 5:45.

Grab your coffee or tea and follow along.

10.30am BST

Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how Simone Biles got on in her previous event:

At the world championships last year, a few days after her spectacular comeback began with a stellar all-around gold medal, Simone Biles’s first vault final ended with a fall. It was the first time she had performed her Yurchenko double pike in a major final and as she searched for the floor after the vault, her legs crumpled beneath her. Biles finished in second place behind Rebeca Andrade of Brazil.

As the Biles redemption tour continues and the gold medals keep on coming, she reasserted her status as the greatest vaulter of all time, keeping Andrade at bay with another supreme exhibition. Biles finished the vault final with an average score of 15.3points. Andrade averaged 14.966 and Biles’s teammate, Jade Carey, scored 14.466 for bronze.

This is the second time Biles has won the vault gold medal, following on from 2016. With three golds –in the team, the all-around and the vault competitions – she has now won 40 Olympic and world medals, further extending her record as the most decorated gymnast – man or woman.