Topline
Olympic all-star Simone Biles will move on to the finals in all five possible individual gymnastic events in Paris later this week and will compete as a member of the U.S. Olympic team, the overall favorite to win the gold medal in the team final on Tuesday.
Simone Biles from Team United States competes on the floor exercise in Paris on July 28, 2024.
Key Facts
Biles has secured a spot in the individual event finals for vault, floor, uneven bars and balance beam and will compete in the Olympic all-around competition after scoring a virtually untouchable 59.566 in qualifiers Sunday despite a minor leg injury.
Biles scored second in her division on beam, first on vault, first on floor and eighth on uneven bars to qualify for every individual event final.
Biles was set to perform a new and difficult element on bars that would have been named for her had she nailed it in competition, but opted not to perform the skill in the qualifiers (if she does it in the event of all-around finals, it could still be named for her).
Biles and American Suni Lee will compete in the all-around competition on Thursday, the first time two all-around champions from the same country have ever competed against each other in the finals (Biles won the title in 2016 and Lee in 2020).
Lee and Biles will also represent America in the balance beam and uneven bars finals; Biles and Jade Carey will be the U.S. competitors on vault; and Biles and Jordan Chiles will both compete on floor.
Chiles scored high enough to make the finals both in the all-around competition and on vault as well, but a two-gymnast-per-country rule will keep her from competing (she placed third overall in the all-around and on vault, but behind two of her American teammates).
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Forbes Valuation
We estimate Biles was paid $7.1 million last year, tying her for 16th-highest paid female athlete. She made an estimated $100,000 in on-field earnings and $7 million in endorsements and other off-field pay.
When Are The Gymnastics Event Finals?
The final competitions. The vault final is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 3, uneven bars Sunday and the balance beam and floor finals will take place Monday, Aug. 5. The women’s all-around competition is set for Thursday, Aug. 1 and the gymnastics team final is scheduled for Tuesday.
Big Number
37. That’s how many medals Biles has won across the world championships and the Olympics, making her the most decorated gymnast in history.
What To Watch For
If Biles does get a new uneven bars skill named for her, she’ll have coined a move in all four gymnastics events. The new skill on bars would be the sixth named for her—she currently has two each on vault and floor and one on balance beam. She’d be the only active gymnast to have the honor in all four events.
Tangent
The United States is the favorite to win gold in the team finals, with Brazil, China, and Italy as other medal contenders. Biles is the individual favorite in the all-around competition and on vault and floor, with Lee poised to bring home gold on the uneven bars. The balance beam event is considered a wildcard this year, with Biles and Lee competing against event threats Zhou Yaqin of China and Rebeca Andrade of Brazil.
Further Reading
Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes reporter who covers breaking news with a frequent focus on the entertainment industry, streaming, sports news, publishing, pop culture and climate change. She joined Forbes in 2023 and lives in Dallas. She’s covered Netflix’s hottest documentaries, a surge of assaults reported on social media, the most popular books of the year and how climate change stands to impact the way we eat. Roeloffs was included on Editor & Publisher Magazine’s “ 25 Under 30” list in 2023 and worked covering local news in the greater Boston area from 2017 to 2023. She graduated with a double major in political science and journalism from Northeastern University. Follow Roeloffs for continued coverage of streaming wars, pop culture news and trending topics.
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