Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles will anchor three of the four apparatus Tuesday (30 July) as Team USA seeks to reclaim the women’s team gold medal at Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The Americans are the reigning silver medallists – a shocking finish three years ago at Tokyo 2020 after the squad entered as the heavy favourites.
“This is definitely our redemption tour,” said Biles at the recent U.S. Olympic trials. “I feel like we all have more to give… I feel like we have a lot of weight on our shoulders to go out there and prove that we’re better athletes, we’re more mature, we’re smarter, we’re more consistent.”
American women’s gymnastics team have previously won three team titles at the Games: Atlanta 1996, London 2016 and Rio 2016.
Tokyo 2020 team silver medallist Jordan Chiles will set the tone on the vault, followed by Tokyo floor champ Jade Carey and Biles.
Reigning Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee is the bars anchor with Chiles and Biles, respectively, setting the table.
On the balance beam, it will be Chiles, Lee and then Biles. The final rotation on the floor exercise will see Lee, Chiles and Biles attempting to seal the title.
Sunday, Carey revealed to Olympics.com that illness has hampered her preparation in the last week, explaining her absence on the event where she struck gold three years ago in Japan.
Newcomer Hezly Rivera is not set to compete in the final.