History will be achieved when Simone Biles and Suni Lee compete in the all-around final.
When they compete in the individual all-around final at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Simone Biles and Suni Lee will make history for the United States.
It will be the first time two Olympic all-around winners will compete against each other in an Olympic all-around final when Biles, the 2016 champion, and Lee, the 2020 champion, take the stage on Thursday, August 1.
On Sunday, Biles came in first and Lee came in third.. Lee had a score of 56.132, while Biles received a 59.566.
With a great bar performance that scored 14.866, Lee secured her spot, narrowly defeating colleague Jordan Chiles for the second individual all-around position on Team USA by just.067.
Due to a rule that only permits two athletes from each nation to compete in the individual all-around finals, Chiles, who finished fourth with a 56.065, will not be able to participate in the all-around final.
Biles had a calf problem that made for a dramatic start, but she still achieved a record-breaking score for women’s gymnastics.
After practicing her signature move, “the Biles,” for her floor routine, Biles was heard saying to her coach, “uh oh, not good,” during the 30-second warm-up before the performance.
The gymnast “felt ‘a little pain in her calf'” during her floor warm-up, according to Biles’ coach Cecile Landi. Landi stated that she wasn’t worried about Biles’ performance going forward and that there were currently no plans for her to adjust her routines or withdraw from any events.
Despite the pain, Biles persisted, as he is regarded as the best gymnast of all time.
On Tuesday, July 30, at 11:15 a.m. CT on Peacock, Team USA will battle for the opportunity to win the team championship. The competition will be re-aired in primetime at 7 p.m. CT. On Thursday, August 1, at 11:15 a.m. CT on Peacock, the Individual All-Around will take place. It will be re-aired in primetime at 7 p.m. CT.
Although it makes sense that Simone Biles dominates discussions about USA Gymnastics, there is another member of the squad who challenges Simone to be eclipsed: Sunisa “Suni” Lee is an Auburn gymnast.
At the 2020 Tokyo Games (held in 2021), Lee became a rising star in the sport; Biles was forced to retire due to a bout of the twisties. At age 21, Lee is already one of the most decorated Americans in USA Gymnastics history, having been the first Hmong-American to compete for the United States in the Olympics. She won three medals at the Olympics and six World Championships. She also won the NCAA balance beam championship in 2022.
In terms of the number of medals won by US gymnasts in major events, Lee would tie Shawn Johnson and Chellsie Memmel if she medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Shilese Jones, Lee’s teammate, has a possibility to do the same since she too enters with six medals from the main gymnastics events.
2020 Tokyo Olympics medal total for Suni Lee
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Lee won three medals, including the gold in the individual all-around competition.
Lee was also acknowledged for being a member of the United States team that won bronze on the uneven bars and silver among teams. Lee competed in one event but did not receive a medal—the balancing beam, where she placed sixth.
Lee became one of just two female gymnasts from the Russian Olympic Committee, Angelina Melnikova, and Rebeca Andrade from Brazil to win medals in multiple individual events at Tokyo 2020. The only people to achieve that feat and win individual gold medals were Andrade and Lee.
Suni Lee at Auburn gets perfect tens.
In less than two full seasons at Auburn, Lee managed to pull off an astounding nine perfect 10s, one of the hardest gymnastics achievements.
With three flawless 10s on beam and two on bars, Lee concluded the 2022 season with five total. She then concluded the 2023 season with four perfect 10s (two on bars and two on beam), having been unable to complete the season due to illness.
According to her Auburn resume, Lee’s first perfect 10 in 2022 was the Tigers’ first perfect 10 as a program in 18 years. She went on to record four more perfect 10s to round off the season, placing second in the national all-around competition and taking first place in the beam competition.
Lee completed just eight meets in her second and final season at Auburn, although she recorded four perfect 10s before her renal problem caused her season to end early.
