Rare errors proved costly for Simone Biles as the US gymnastics superstar failed to add to her gold haul on Monday at the Paris Olympics, where triathletes plunged into the River Seine.
The day after US sprinter Noah Lyles blasted his way into the record books with the narrowest of wins in the men’s 100m, all eyes were on Biles to see if she could write some more history of her own.
Widely considered the greatest gymnast in history, Biles was bidding to add to her Paris haul of three golds in balance beam and floor finals at the Bercy Arena, in her final day of competing in Paris.
But the 27-year-old slipped off the beam while walking backwards in her routine, the unusual error gifting gold to Italy’s Alice D’Amato.
A clearly furious Biles exited the arena to prepare for her floor exercise final, which also ended in heartbreak as two landing hiccups sent her into silver behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade.
“Today has been absolutely wild,” Biles said, adding that she was “actually very happy, proud and even more excited that it’s over”.
She famously fell victim to the debilitating mental block gymnasts call the “twisties” at the Tokyo Olympics but has bounced back emphatically to silence critics who slammed her as a quitter.
Biles ended her campaign in Paris with three golds and a silver, bringing her total Olympic haul to 11, seven of which are gold.
– ‘Food poisoning’ –
Earlier Monday, the Seine was judged clean enough to stage the mixed triathlon relay following uncertainty over pollution levels and illness in the build-up.
The race turned out to be a thriller, Germany’s Laura Lindemann holding off a fierce challenge from the United States and Britain to take gold.
Belgium withdrew after one of their athletes fell ill after competing in the Seine last week but officials gave the all-clear for Monday’s race after assessing the water.
The Seine has been the focus of attention during the Games, consistently failing water quality tests despite a 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) upgrade to improve the Paris sewerage and water treatment systems.
– Big favourite –
Plenty more drama was expected at the Stade de France after the closest 100m final in modern Olympic history electrified the crowd on Sunday.
Fresh from his breathtaking triumph, Lyles cruised to victory in his 200m heat with a time of 20.19sec to reach the semi-finals.
In Monday’s early action at the track, the “big three” advanced comfortably in the heats of the men’s 400m hurdles, seen as one of the most competitive races of the Games.
Defending champion Karsten Warholm and his challengers, American Rai Benjamin and Brazilian Alison Dos Santos, all cruised through their races and eased up well before the line.
“I think this is the second-fastest heat I have ever done. It felt very good,” said Warholm, the three-time world champion from Norway.
On Monday evening the virtually invincible Armand Duplantis goes in the pole vault.
The main question is just how high the Swede can go after setting a new world record of 6.24 metres earlier this season.
On the track, Dutch distance queen Sifan Hassan runs in the final of the women’s 5,000m, as she hunts a golden treble of 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon.
– Britain break world record –
In a packed day 10 schedule, track cycling began at the National Velodrome.
Britain gave what they hope will be a taste of things to come by storming to the first gold, in the women’s team sprint, with the world record shattered five times in the session.
In football, substitute Juanlu Sanchez struck a late winner as Spain came from behind to beat Morocco 2-1 and reach the final of the men’s competition, where they will face hosts France or Egypt.
South Korea’s An Se-young consolidated her status as the top player in women’s badminton, beating China’s He Bingjiao in an exhilarating final.
Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen cruised to gold in the men’s tournament.
China topped the medals table with 21 golds, two ahead of the United States.
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