Paris Olympics: Simone Biles Earns Her Third Gold in Vault Final

Simone Biles has done it again! For the third time at these Paris Games, Biles, 27, is an Olympic gold medalist. Biles finished first in the women’s artistic gymnastics individual vault final on August 3 2024 at the Bercy Arena.

For Biles’ first vault, she earned a score of 15.700 with a 6.400 difficulty thanks to the Biles II — a Yurchenko double pike vault.

Her second vault, the Cheng vault, scored 14.900 with a 5.600 difficulty level. Her average score was 15.300.

Her teammate Jade Carey also competed in the event, earning 14.733 on her first vault and 14.200 on her second for a 14.466 average. Carey took the bronze medal.

Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won the silver with a score of 14.966. Speaking about competing against Andrade, Biles told reporters, “She’s very, very talented. She’s a very powerful gymnast. She does keep me on my toes, but I love competing with her. It’s always an honor.”

Biles previously won gold in the vault at the Rio 2016 Olympics. She qualified for the final during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but withdrew from the competition due to dealing with the twisties.

Only eight gymnasts qualified for the vault final, with Biles entering the competition in first place with a qualification score of 15.300. Carey was in the third-place spot with 14.433.

Team USA’s Jordan Chiles also had a high score in the apparatus but didn’t compete in the final as only two gymnasts from each country can earn a spot.