Simone Biles clinched her third gold medal of the Paris Games on Saturday, securing the women’s vault title with a dazzling Yurchenko double pike, earning her a seventh Olympic crown.
Biles, who had already led the United States to team gold and claimed all-around gold, delivered a pair of exceptional vaults to achieve a decisive victory over Brazil’s Olympic and world champion Rebeca Andrade. American gymnast Jade Carey took home the bronze medal.
Biles set the tone with her opening vault, the Yurchenko double pike, now officially named the Biles II. Her remarkable height off the vault table was awe-inspiring, and despite taking a step back on the landing, she earned a stellar execution score of 9.4 and a difficulty score of 6.4 for a total of 15.700 points.
Her second vault, a Cheng, was equally impressive, scoring 14.900 and resulting in a winning average of 15.300.
“I’m super excited, ecstatic about how my vaults went,” Biles, 27, expressed. “I wanted to perform them well, and I think that showed today. I’ve put in a lot of work to perfect the Yurchenko double pike, and I’m thrilled to have showcased it in the finals today.”
Andrade delivered a stunning Cheng vault that scored 15.100 points. However, a slight hop on her second vault led to a score of 14.833, giving her an average of 14.966. Although Andrade, who had won vault gold in Biles’s absence in Tokyo and edged her out for the world title last year, had hinted at attempting a new triple-twisting Yurchenko, she ultimately decided against it. She expressed a desire to perform it in future competitions, calling it “so cool.”
Carey, who was the last of the eight finalists to compete, secured bronze with an average score of 14.466, narrowly beating out North Korea’s An Chang-ok. Reflecting on her performance, Carey said, “It was stressful being the last one up, but I knew that if I stayed in my lane and stayed focused, everything would work out well.”
Biles, dressed in shimmering red, beamed as she received another warm reception at the Bercy Arena. Her joy was evident as she greeted the judges and high-fived her coach, Laurent Landi.
With this victory, Biles now holds a total of 40 world and Olympic medals, including 30 golds. She has the opportunity to further add to her tally in the balance beam and floor exercise finals on Monday, marking a triumphant return to the Olympic stage following her struggles with the “twisties” at the Tokyo Games.