CELEBRITY
Simone Biles missed out on a fourth gold medal of the Paris Olympics after some messy landings left her with silver on floor, as Rebeca Andrade shone to take the title.
The 27-year-old American – who won team, all-around and vault gold – landed with both feet outside the floor area twice, costing her 0.300 apiece, and scored 14.133 to sit 0.033 behind Andrade. American Jordan Chiles won bronze with 13.766.
Biles, whose difficulty level was a full mark higher than the Brazilian’s, paid the price for her errors as Andrade executed her lively routine almost flawlessly.
Biles had earlier fallen off the beam to finish fifth.
Andrade had the crowd at the Bercy Arena on its feet with her lively routine, setting an early mark as the second gymnast to go.
Biles, who had appeared frustrated with the crowd during the beam final, seemed to have shaken off her disappointment and made a brilliant start on floor with a powerful and perfectly landed triple twisting double somersault.
But such is the height and power she gets on her tumbles it can sometimes work against her, and she bounced out of the floor area twice to receive the hefty
deductions. After beating Andrade to the all-around title last week, Biles – the world’s most successful gymnast – had praised her rival saying she was the only gymnast who had ever come close to her.
She was right, although this time she was beaten as Andrade completed her set of a medal of every colour in Paris after all-around silver and team bronze.
Biles has now won 11 Olympic gymnastics medals, drawing her level with Czech Vera Caslavska in second on the women’s all-time list. The all-time leader is Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina with 18.