Simone Biles completed a near perfect return to Olympics competition on Sunday despite an injury scare during the qualification competition.
The 27-year-old, who returned to an ovation, seemed to injure herself during the warm-ups for the floor exercise, was examined by medical staff and needed taping strapped around her lower left leg and ankle.
Briefly there seemed concern whether she could perform her routine.
She then seemed to be stretching her calf muscle by jogging up and down but stepped out to execute a floor exercise of incredible complexity, scoring an impressive 14.6.
Biles still seemed subdued after leaving the floor. She sat on the step leading down from the performing area, rather then joining her teammates.
The tension as she prepared for the floor was compounded a disastrous conclusion to teammate Jade Carey’s routine on the arena floor.
Carey lost her balance and fell. Biles took a step off the floor in her first tumbling pass – one of the signature moves which takes her name and took a step forward after her second. But despite the 0.1 point deduction for stepping off, it was hugely impressive return to the Olympic floor.
Biles was then attended to again by doctors before performing the vault – the exercise which prompted her to withdraw from competition in Tokyo – and she sat on the floor, seeming to stretch her calf again, before competing.
Biles has injured her calf before and could be heard on the TV broadcast saying: ‘As soon as I took off, I felt it,’ she said. ‘It’s right there on my calf. Right where I had that f***ing tear.’