Paris Olympics: Simone Biles appears to tweak left leg during gymnastics qualifier, still dominates

PARIS — Simone Biles appears to have tweaked her left leg while warming up for her floor routine here Sunday during qualification for the all-around and individual events here at the Paris Games.

Just moments after delivering a near flawless beam routine, Biles did some typical tumbling practicing on the floor only to briefly leave the arena floor complaining of pain with team doctor Marcia Faustin. She appeared to say, “It hurts to push off,” on the NBC broadcast.

She appeared to have a limp and was favoring her left leg slightly while delivering a high intensity floor routine of historic difficulty.

She still scored a 14.600, best at the time in qualification. She previously delivered a massive 14.733 on beam, also best so far in the event. She then posted a monster 15.800 on vault doing her signature Yurchenko double pike. That score was nearly two points higher than anyone else. And finished with a 14.433 on uneven bars, likely qualifying her for all four apparatus individual events.

For the Unites States, which was virtually assured of qualifying for Tuesday’s team final, Sunday’s performances were about qualifying for the all-around and individual apparatus finals that come later in the Olympics.

The United States is allowed two qualifiers for the all-around. Behind Biles, Jordan Chiles and Suni Lee, the defending Olympic all-around champion, battled for the second spot. For them, it came down to uneven bars, where Lee overcame a slight deficit to edge out Chiles.

Biles is 27 and the oldest American female gymnast since the 1950s when the sport was vastly different. She has said her age is a major consideration in how she prepares for competition.

“Recovery, I just have to take it a little more serious,” Biles said last month. “Back in Rio [in 2016] I never had to do anything, I never had tape. anything, I was a little hamster on a wheel, always running.”

Biles is the world’s most dominant gymnast and is the significant pre-Games favorite to win both a second all-around gold medal and lead Team USA to team gold.

She previously won all-around gold at the 2016 Games in Rio.

She was forced to drop out of the team competition in Tokyo after a single rotation due to a case of the “twistees” which affects aerial awareness. She did not compete in the all-around, then returned to win a bronze on beam, but left those Games believing her career was over.

“I never pictured going to another Olympic Games after Tokyo just because of the circumstances,” Biles said. “I never thought I’d go back in the gym again and be twisting [and] feel free.”

Instead, she returned better than ever, pushing the limits of difficulty in routines. She cruised to the 2023 World Championships and dubbed her Paris Games as a “redemption tour.”