Simone Biles and Suni Lee Both Fall in Balance Beam Final, Finishing 5th and 6th

Simone Biles and Suni Lee had a rough time on the beam on Monday.

In the penultimate women’s gymnastics event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Biles and Lee both fell off the apparatus during the balance beam final, finishing 5th and 6th respectively. Italy’s Alice D’Amato won gold, her teammate Manila Esposito won bronze, while China’s Yaqin Zhou won silver.

Lee was second and started strongly before landing unsuccessfully on one of her spins. She stumbled backwards, before landing with her feet on either side of the bar and falling. Lee came back and finished her routine, finishing with a score of 13.100.

Biles was seventh of the eight gymnasts left, and between her and Lee, all but one of their competitors also fell from the beam. Biles, like Lee, looked solid, but after one of her turns, Biles landed with too much power and fell off the beam. She came back and finished with her classic dismount, but after a long delay, the judges also gave Biles a 13.100, placing her in fifth place.

Simone Biles.

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Biles and Lee both entered the beam final hoping to improve on their past Olympic performances on the floor. Biles won bronze on beam at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Games, while Lee finished fifth in the event in Tokyo.

Lee was “disappointed” with her balance beam final, but was in high spirits as she spoke to reporters, including PEOPLE, after the event.

“I would say it definitely didn’t go the way I wanted,” she said. “I don’t even know what happened in my series. I thought it was straight, then suddenly I fell to the ground.

Sunny Lee.

Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images

“I’m really disappointed because I feel like I still have a lot to prove on beam, and every time I get to the finals, I just never get to do the routine that I want to, but that’s just the mental side. I just need to go and do the work and put in all the effort and maybe one day you’ll have one.”

Lee added that after nine days of competition, which included winning bronze on bars the day before, she was “so tired today.”

Sunny Lee.

LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images

“I told everyone that I don’t know if I can perform in this beam final,” she said. “I’m so tired and then I felt like I didn’t work for a long time just because I can’t keep track of my days when I’m here. But today the pressure was definitely on.”

Earlier in the Games in Paris, Biles, Lee and their teammates – Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera – won the gold medal in the women’s team final. Biles won gold in the women’s all-around and Lee took the bronze medal on August 1. Two days later, Biles secured her third gold in Paris in the vault final.

Simone Biles.

Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images

As she continues to rack up medals and break records, Biles said after the team final that she doesn’t pay attention to the numbers.

“I don’t count, I don’t keep statistics,” she told reporters, including PEOPLE. “I just go out there and do what I’m supposed to do, do what I love and enjoy it, so that’s really all that matters to me.”

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Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education