PARIS (AP) — Simone Biles won her seventh Olympic gold medal by winning the ladies’s vault final on the Paris Games on Saturday.
Biles, 27, averaged 15.300 for her signature Yurchenko doubles and Cheng jumps, earning her second gold medal on the event eight years after her triumph in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, who finished second behind Biles in Thursday's all-around final, took silver, just ahead of American Jade Carey, who took bronze.
Biles is the second woman to win the vault twice. Vera Casalavska of Czechoslovakia won gold medals on the vault twice. Casalavska won back-to-back in 1964 and 1968. Biles has now won 10 Olympic medals in her profession, tied for the third-most of any gymnast. She has also increased her medal count at major international competitions to 40, essentially the most of any female gymnast.
The crowd on the packed Bercy Arena went wild as Biles was introduced, wearing a red sequined bodysuit and delivering one other stunning performance in what may very well be the last vaulting competition of her life.
She practiced her Yurchenko double pike, explosively jumping off the block after which doing two back flips along with her hands clasped behind her knees. She landed with a giant jump – a sign of the energy she generates – on her right foot on the sideline.
The judges deducted a tenth of some extent for that, however it hardly mattered. Her rating of 15.700 meant she only needed to avoid disaster on her second dive to win. Instead, she almost got stuck on her cheng, which requires a round-trip onto the springboard, then a half-turn onto the block, followed by 1 1/2 activates a forward somersault.
The 14,900 that followed meant that the remainder of the eight-man field was battling for second place.
Andrade, the Tokyo vault champion, produced two excellent jumps to win silver and her third medal of the Games, after silver within the all-around and bronze within the team final. Andrade's average of 14.966 was significantly higher than anyone else.
Carey, who slipped in the ladies's vault final in Tokyo and finished eighth, claimed her third Olympic medal along with the ground exercise gold she won in Tokyo and the team gold she won with Biles on Tuesday.
Biles has two more possibilities to extend her medal tally in Paris. On Monday she is going to compete within the balance beam and floor exercise finals.
Yulo wins for the Philippines
Carlos Yulo won the second ever Olympic gold medal for the Philippines, defeating defending champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel in the lads's floor exercise final.
The 24-year-old Yulo achieved 15,000 points, just ahead of defending champion Dolgopyat with 14,966 points. Briton Jake Jarman took bronze with 14,933 points.
Yulo accomplished his triple twist dismount on his final attempt, raising his arms and roaring on the packed Bercy Arena before leaving the rostrum.
Yulo is one among the Olympic gold medalists from the Philippines, together with weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz. Diaz won gold in the ladies's 55-kilogram class three years ago in Tokyo.
The men's pommel horse final can even happen afterward Saturday. American Stephen Nedoroscik and Irishman Rhys McClenaghan achieved the identical top rating in qualifying.
___
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Originally published:
image credit : www.mercurynews.com