BILES, RAISMAN RISE ABOVE THE CROWD
Simone Biles RIO DE JANEIRO and Aly Raisman weren’t paying attention to the Olympic rings on the floor. That the best gymnasts in the world were gathered to compete hardly seemed to matter.
For the American teammates, the Olympic all-around final turned into another day of friends having fun in the gym.
By the end of it, they were the best in the world, Olympic gold and silver medalists sobbing in each other’s arms as the crowd at Rio Olympic Arena rained down cheers on them.
“We had both won gold in that moment, and to both be from the United States and get to represent, I don’t think there’s any better feeling,” Biles said.
That feeling included Americans taking the top two spots on the podium for the first time since 2008. Russia’s Aliya Mustafina claimed bronze.
That this outcome — especially Biles’ gold — was expected didn’t make it any less remarkable.
Biles’ win gave the American’s the Olympic all-around title for the fourth consecutive time, extending a streak that began in 2004.
It was the first major international meet in which she trailed at any point, but it hardly mattered as she scored 62.198 to win by 2.1 points. Raisman has seen her teammate and friend dominate the world for the past three years, and she knew there was a ceiling for her in her second Olympics.
“I wasn’t reaching to get gold,” said Raisman, who lost a tiebreaker for third place in London four years ago, “so this was the best I could possibly do, so I am very proud.”
She was just as proud to have shared the historic night with her teammate.
Biles’ Olympic all-around gold is the latest in a long line of victories that have made her the greatest gymnast in her sport’s history. She and Raisman helped the Fi- nal Five win the team gold Tuesday.
Biles has won the past three all-around competitions at the world championships. During that run, she won a record 10 gold medals and 14 overall. The 19year-old has won every all-around competition she has entered since August 2013, a streak that includes four consecutive U.S. titles.
“It’s very amazing that she’s able to handle the pressure because obviously everyone’s talking about her,” Raisman said. “Everyone expected her to win gold, so it’s not easy to do that when you’re literally on every single magazine, on every single article. She handled it so well.”
As she has throughout that run, Biles stayed far ahead of the field by performing the most difficult gymnastics with some of the best execution. Her margin of victory was nearly double the largest she’s had in winning the major international all-around competition each year since 2013.
Biles trailed Mustafina by 0.034 of a point after the second rotation, during which both were on uneven bars. That’s Mustafina’s best event and Biles’ worst.
She pulled away from there, taking first place by more than 1.8 points after balance beam. On floor, she was spectacular, putting together her usual soaring, technically difficult routine to earn the highest score of the day.
“To compete with Simone is not difficult. It is a pleasure to compete with her,” Mustafina said. “When I competed, I realized I didn’t have any chances to receive a gold medal or a silver medal. But it was so pleasant for me.”
Raisman, meanwhile, was fourth after two rotations but moved into third on beam and took silver thanks to a floor routine that was second only to Biles’.
“I don’t know how much more prepared we could have been, so I think that’s why we did so well because it doesn’t feel like the Olympics,” Biles said. “We don’t have the pressure on us. We’re just so prepared.”
The Americans finished first and second for the second time in the last three Olympics. In 2008, Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson claimed gold and silver, respectively.
It’s that comparison that resonated with Raisman, who won three Olympic medals as part of the Fierce Five in London.
She and Biles started the day wanting to have fun competing together. They ended it with medals that cemented an already close bond.
“We’re basically like sisters,” Raisman said, “and we’ll always have this moment forever.”