Simone Biles has added another gold medal to her illustrious Olympic career, winning the vault apparatus final at the Paris 2024 Games. This victory marks Biles’ 10th Olympic medal overall and her 7th gold, further cementing her status as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time.
Biles showcased her unparalleled skills by performing her iconic “Biles II” vault – a Yurchenko double pike – for the last time in Olympic competition. This vault, the most difficult in the women’s rulebook, earned her a score of 15.700, the highest of the Paris Games for this skill. Her second vault, a “Cheng,” scored 14.900, giving her an average of 15.300 across both attempts.
The American gymnast faced strong competition from Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, the reigning world champion and Tokyo Olympic vault gold medalist. Andrade impressed with what many consider one of the best Cheng vaults ever seen in competition, scoring 15.100. However, her average of 14.966 across two vaults wasn’t enough to surpass Biles.
Biles’ victory in the vault final adds to her gold medals in the team and individual all-around competitions earlier in the week. This win makes her the fourth U.S. woman to win at least seven Olympic gold medals and ties her with Czechoslovakia’s Vera Caslavska as the only women to win two vault gold medals in Olympic history.
The competition also featured speculation about Andrade potentially attempting a triple-twisting Yurchenko, a vault never successfully performed by a female gymnast in competition. However, Andrade opted for a 2.5 twist instead.
