The 2024 Paris Olympics qualifying events on Sunday spotlighted Simone Biles as she braved her calf injury, with stars like Ariana Grande rooting for her from the stands. The world stood still on Sunday as the renowned gymnast attempted her signature Yurchenko double pike on the vault with an injured ankle. Moments prior, the star impressed on the bean, and excelled during the beam routine as well. However, she sustained a nick on her calf during the floor warm-up tumbling pass.
Her coach Cecil Landi confirmed Simone Biles’ injury, saying the star “felt a little pain in her calf” during the flour routine. The NBC broadcast caught the gymnast seemingly saying “It hurts to get up,” further intensifying growing fears. Thankfully, the USA team’s doctor Marcia Faustin came in handy, escorting Simone off the floor and bandaging her injured ankle. Simone returned moments later to take on the vault at the Paris Olympics qualifying round.
Simone Biles Wins First Place Despite Calf Injury
Appearing with her securely wrapped ankle, the 4-time Olympic gold medalist limped her way to the stage as the audience watched in panic mode, anticipating the worst. Defending her crown as the world’s best female gymnast, Simone Biles conquered the floor session seamlessly, topping the scoreboard with an impressive 14.600 at the Paris Olympics qualifiers. Next, Simone followed up with a remarkable display of raw talent on vault, finishing with the leading score of 15.300 thanks to her Biles II routine. She secured a lower score of 14.333 on the bars, making her unlikely to participate in the rotation during the bars finale.
Related:
Simone Biles in Sheer Leotard Gets Naughty After Scoring First Place on Injured Foot at the OlympicsYet, with three gymnastic events in the bag, Simone Biles remains the top scorer at the USA Women’s gymnastics qualifiers at the Paris 2024 Olympics. All these she achieved even with a calf injury. And for the crowd cheering on Team USA, they most certainly experienced a moment of panic watching the star deal with her injured legs. Witnessing Simone limp, and even crawl at some point during the practice run left many holding their breaths when it came time to thrill the judges.
Seating among the tensed-up audience as Simone Biles took on the Olympics’ qualifiers were celebrities like Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, John Legend, Cynthia Erivo, and Tom Cruise. Like most Americans, these stars made it to the qualifiers to watch their favorite gymnast secure her place at the Olympics while rooting for Team U.S.A. Anna Wintour, Chrissy Teigen, and Nick Jonas also made appearances at the games, cheering on Simone at the Bercy Arena.
