With three gold medals already in the bag, Simone Biles had eyes on a first ever five gold medal haul at the Olympics.
Biles had already won team, individual and vault gold medals, and lined up in both the beam and floor finals on Monday – but there was disappointment for the 27-year-old in both events.
But after dramatically slipping off the balance beam she was left unhappy with the crowd and judges and a fifth-placed finish, before returning later in the day to miss out on gold in the floor.
Taking to the floor as the penultimate athlete of the beam competition, Biles started impressively with a typically difficult routine.
But as she slid off – one of several gymnasts to come off the apparatus – in the latter part of her performance, commentators proclaimed ‘she is human after all.’
However the drama was not over as after she climbed back onto the beam to complete the routine, she was seen furious with the crowd – which included Tom Brady – for their attempts to keep everyone quiet.
‘Stop shushing, why are they shushing’ she appeared to say as she waited for the scores to come in.
Her unhappiness continued as the judges took an age to deliver her score with Biles appearing to say ‘what are they waiting for?’
Eventually he scores came in and of was only good enough for fourth place, with Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade still to perform.
In the end Italy’s Alice D’Amato performed brilliantly to claim gold, with her teammate Manila Esposito in bronze.
China’s Zhou Yaqin, who had performed first, took silver having led for much of the competition before D’Amato;s spectacular display.
Tied with Biles for fifth was US teammate Sunisa Lee who said afterwards: “The pressure was definitely on.
“I don’t know if you could tell, but a lot of people were definitely feeling it.
“I think it was the crowd but also just knowing that we’re so close to being done and just adding that extra stress of wanting to end it off the right way.”
Biles was back in the arena later in the day chasing a second Olympic gold in the floor competition which she won in 2016.
Despite a spectacular routine, she twice stepped outside the floor boundary and that resulted in 0.6pts of deduction – a result that handed Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade the gold medal.
Biles finished just .033 behind the dazzling Andrade, meaning a clean routine – or even just one step outside the boundary would likely have deliver her an eighth career gold medal.
Instead her second Olympic silver, paired with seven gold and two bronze gives her a total of 11 Olympic medals.
Following her dramatic exit in Tokyo three years ago, Biles has returned with four medals in Paris and all eyes are on whether she will take aim at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, when she will be 31.
