Sports

Simone Biles misses gold, but adds 11th career Olympic medal in floor exercise; Jordan Chiles takes surprise bronze

Written by ABC Audio All Rights Reserved on August 5, 2024

(PARIS) — Simone Biles faltered in her last routine at the Paris Olympics, with a heavily wrapped left calf, but will still leave the Games with a silver medal in the floor event. Fellow American Jordan Chiles came through with a shocking bronze medal, even though celebrations had already begun with another athlete.

Biles brings her total Olympic medal count to 11 overall, including four total from the Paris Games.

In a bit of confusion after teammate Jordan Chiles’ score was first posted as only good enough for fifth place, a review led to an increase and the bronze medal. Romanian Ana Barbosu had already begun celebrating the bronze before Chiles’ adjusted score was posted.

Biles trailed Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade 14.166 who won gold.

In her final routine of the Summer Games, Biles started with a significantly higher difficulty rating than her competitors, which helped her stay in podium position after she stepped out of bounds twice and was docked 0.6 points.

The medal came just hours after Biles finished a disappointing fifth in the balance beam final due to a fall. She had been aiming to win her eighth career gold medal in that event.

The U.S. women had a sterling performance in gymnastics in the Paris Games taking home gold in the all-around team final last Tuesday, followed by a gold for Biles and a bronze for Suni Lee in the individual all-around competition on Thursday.