Celebrities and fellow Olympians pack the Bercy Arena as greatest gymnast of all time takes silver on the floor
Simone Biles prepares to compete in the women's floor exercise final at the Bercy Arena, her final event of the Paris Olympics. Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images. Her Olympics had already paid out everything she was after, with three gold medals banked before the final day and all memories of Tokyo scrubbed and scoured clean. Two more were on offer here, for all we knew the last two she’ll ever compete for.
Biles long ago ceased to be just a person in the world. She exists instead at a level of ur-fame, a heightened reality beyond rational understanding for the rest of us. She has posted five tweets in the past week since competition started. Combined views – coming up on 200 million. You’re talking a level of celebrity attained by very few sportspeople in history. And even fewer sportswomen.
A little too much homage, as it turned out. During the balance beam competition, portions of the crowd took it upon themselves to shush audience members who were shouting encouragement at Biles and the other gymnasts. Whether the shushing contributed to the unusually high number of falls – four of the eight finalists came off the beam during the final – nobody could say. But there was no doubt they found it distracting.
Celebrity is such an unnatural state. The flavour of it that we generally tend to scoff at is grasping and needy, the low-level emptiness of pointless fame. Yet even that is more relatable than what someone like Biles carries with her through the world. Never off. Never normal. Always refracted through the public lens.
Finally, it was her time. As the gymnasts who had made it through to the most finals, she and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade were going for their 17th routine of the week. Andrade had already nailed hers and gone into the lead, giving Biles something to aim at. “I have accomplished way more than my wildest dreams. Not just at this Olympics but in this sport. I can’t be mad at my performances. A couple of years ago I didn’t think I would be back here at an Olympic Games, so competing and walking away with four medals, I’m not mad. I’m not very upset or anything about my performances. I’m actually very happy and proud. And even more excited that it’s over.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Simone Biles vaults to third gold medal of Paris Olympics and seventh overallThe American star landed a Yurchenko double pike, known as the Biles II, with her first vault
Read more »
Simone Biles leads USA to women’s gymnastics team gold at Paris OlympicsGymnastics star wins fifth Olympic gold medal; Italy win silver, Brazil get bronze, Great Britain finish fourth
Read more »
First glimpse of Simone Biles in Paris proves her brilliance is backThe US gymnast performed her double pike vault in podium training, three years after the trauma of Tokyo
Read more »
Simone Biles stunned by Rebeca Andrade in floor final at OlympicsBrazilian gymnast takes gold with Biles taking silver; US gymnast earlier fell on the beam and finished fifth
Read more »
Simone Biles falls on beam as her Olympic gymnastics medal charge stallsAlice D’Amato wins Italy’s first ever gold medal in artistic gymnastics in surprise result
Read more »
Hot property Daniel Wiffen declares he 'feels like Simone Biles' at the OlympicsThe Magheralin maestro swept into the final of his favourite race, the 1500m, this morning - then spoke of his new-found popularity among athletes from around the world
Read more »