Simone Biles has spoken out after venting her frustration at the crowd when she missed out on a medal.
American gymnast Simone Biles is one of the greatest female Olympians of all-time, and she’s more than proved that at the Paris Games.
The 27-year-old won gold in her first three events in Paris, the all around, vault and team competition.
However, Biles suffered an unexpected slip-up during the beam event on Monday (5 August) when she fell from the beam.
The error cost her dearly, as she ended up finishing in fifth place and missing out on a podium finish.
It was an uncharacteristic mistake from Biles, and it came on a day which saw an unusually high number of falls and errors from gymnasts.
BBC Sport’s commentary team suggested that ‘something in the arena’ was putting off the gymnasts, a theory that Biles appeared to confirm seconds after she completed her routine.
When she’d left the floor she could be heard saying to her teammate Sunisa Lee: “Why are they [the crowd] all shushing? As soon as I’m going they’re like shushing so much.”
Lee responded: “I don’t know why, are they [the Olympic gymnastics organisers] telling them to?”
After scoring 13.100, Biles opened up on what went wrong.
“The beam final is always the most stressful, usually we have music or background noise, whatever that may be, and honestly we do better in environments when there’s noise going on because it feels the most like practice,” she said.
“Today you could hear the ringtones going off, the photo clickers, whatever that was and you’re trying to stay in your zone and then the people start cheering and the shushing gets louder so they should be shushed because they’re louder.
S“I don’t know, it was really weird and awkward and we’d asked if we’ve could have some music or some background noise, so I’m not really sure what happened there. It’s not our favourite, none of us liked it.
“It was an odd beam final.”
The American star recovered to secure silver in what could be her final event at an Olympic Games.
Biles finished second in the floor event, but lost out to Brazilian Rebeca Andrade after twice stepping out of the floor area during her extensive routine.
Biles scored 14.133 while Andrade won it with 14.166.
Three golds and one silver from five events is certainly not to be sniffed at though.
“I’m not upset about my performance or anything, I’m actually very happy, proud and even more excited that it’s over!” Biles said.
“I’ve accomplished way more than my wildest dreams, not just at this Olympics but in the sport – I can’t be mad at my performances.”
American gymnast Simone Biles has delivered a brutal message to her ex-teammate after winning gold at the Paris Olympics.
On Tuesday, Biles put her disappointments from Tokyo 2020 behind as she dazzled during the United States’ route to Artistic Team All-Around gold.
Biles, alongside Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera finished top of the standings after amassing 171.296 points. Italy won the silver and Brazil won the bronze.
Prior to the Olympics, former silver medalist for the USA, MyKayla Skinner questioned the talent and work ethic of the gymnastic team.
She said in a video: “Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be.
“The girls just don’t have the work ethic.”
Shortly after, Skinner retracted her comments, saying: “I want to formally apologise to Team USA and to our gymnastic community for my comments during my recent YouTube episodes of the gymnastics Olympic trials.
“It was not my intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work.”
After winning gold this week, Biles took to Instagram and appeared to issue a response to Skinner’s comments.
Posting a picture of her with the team, the caption read: “Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions.”
Things appeared to escalate even further after Chiles posted a picture of Biles’ phone on Skinner’s account with a caption saying: “When she blocks Simone.”
Biles then wrote on X: “Oops I’ve been blocked.”
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Instagram/@jordanchiles
Reacting to Team USA’s victory, coach Cecile Landi said: “They called it their redemption tour, and that’s what it is. They wanted the gold they couldn’t get in Tokyo.
“Simone was glad it was over for today. The whole team hasn’t been easy, it’s had its ups and downs so to make it happen was just a relief. After Tokyo I’m so happy we’re here on the other side.”
Biles is back in action on Thursday afternoon as she competes in the Women’s Artistic Individual All-Around event.
Simone Biles appeared to complain about the crowd inside Paris’ Bercy Arena after she missed out on a medal in the gymnastics beam final.
The 27-year-old, who is widely regarded as the greatest gymnast of all time, was expected to claim another gold medal in Monday’s beam final.
So far, she has stormed to an unprecedented three gold medals in Paris and recently produced more brilliance in the individual women’s vault.
But days later, she made an uncharacteristic error after making a strong start to her routine. Biles proceeded to fall off the beam half way through, which prompted a number of gasps from the crowd.
The American regained her composure after the fall to complete the beam routine and earn a score of 13.100.
That being said, Biles was far from happy with the circumstances surrounding the fall. In fact, when she re-joined her coach and teammates at the seating area, she complained about the crowd inside Paris’ Bercy Arena.
Widespread reports suggest Biles accused them of making unnecessary noises as she took to the beam.
Throwing her hands in the air, it appears she told them to “stop shushing” before adding: “Why are they all shushing? As soon as I’m going they’re like shushing so much.”
USA teammate Sunisa Lee replied: “I don’t know why, are they [the Olympic gymnastics organisers] telling them to?”
It appears shouts of “come on Simone” were heard while she performed, which brought “shush” sounds from people in the audience. You can watch the events unfold below:
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Craig Heap, the BBC commentator who was reporting on the event, said he’d “never seen Simone Biles look so angry” in his life.
“She was not happy. Something has gone on in the arena,” he said.
“Simone is not happy at all. It just goes to show she is a human being. All the other ladies in that final have made mistakes. She’s not invincible.’
Heap’s co-commentator Matt Baker clarified: “She’s talking about the atmosphere. She’s talking about shushing. The feeling in here is like a cauldron when the gymnasts are on. Oh my word.”
After losing her balance at the end of an aerial series, Biles placed fifth.
Italy’s Alice D’Amato deservedly won gold with a score 14.366, whilst China’s Zhou Yaqin took home a silver medal with 14.100. Manila Esposito of Italy picked up the bronze with 14.000.
Team USA superstar Simone Biles has asked reporters to stop asking one particular question.
Heading into the 2024 Paris Olympics, one of the main talking points was the return of gymnastics legend Biles.
The American endured a tough time during the Tokyo Olympics three years ago but was favourite to regain her form this time around.
Biles, 27, has so far secured three gold medals having won the Artistic Individual All-Around, Artistic Team All-Around and the Women’s Vault.
Taking to social media, Biles sent a message to both her fans and the media on behalf of herself and her fellow Olympians.
She wrote on X: “You guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics.
“Let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for.”
When one fan jokingly replied: “What is your next step after winning Gold medal?”
Biles said: “Babysitting the medal.”
During an interview, Biles revealed that she had been working with a therapist to deal with negative comments.
As per Sky News, she said: “The negative comments are painful up to a certain point. They hurt but I’m still in therapy working on all that, to make sure my mental health is well. But they (the critics) are really quiet now, so that’s strange.
“After all these years of putting the mental work in, it’s paid off. I’m super excited to be on this stage again.”
Biles added: “The Olympics is such a draining process for the athletes, and it’s multiple days of competition, so you definitely have to be on top of your mental as well as physical (health). As long as we’re doing that, then we’re good. And so far I feel good.
“Once we’re out here, the floor is our stage. It feels so freeing for us because we’re in our element, we’re having fun, we’re doing what we love to do.”
Biles has the chance to add two more gold medals to her tally when she partakes in the beam and floor finals on Monday.
