By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Karen Braun
PARIS (Reuters) – Simone Biles is set to make her second appearance at the Paris Games on Tuesday in the women’s gymnastics team final, where she hopes to win her fifth Olympic gold medal for the United States.
Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all-time, made a triumphant return to the Olympic stage on Sunday when she topped the all-around qualifying standings and also earned comfortable leads in the floor exercise and vault. Her stellar performances also put the United States first in team qualifications.
In Tuesday’s final, Biles will compete on all four apparatus alongside teammate Jordan Chiles, who also produced a strong showing on all four apparatus. Sunisa Lee, who won the all around title in Tokyo, will appear on uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise, and Jade Carey will perform only on vault.
Carey, the reigning Olympic floor champion, would normally be in on the apparatus instead of Lee but the 24-year-old struggled in her qualifying performance as she was feeling ill.
The 27-year-old Biles is competing in her third Olympics after she abruptly pulled out from the team final at the Tokyo Games as she was suffering from the “twisties”, a condition involving temporary loss of spatial awareness experienced by gymnasts while performing high-difficulty elements.
Biles also withdrew from the all-around and a number of apparatus finals in Tokyo, raising questions about whether she would ever set foot in an Olympic arena again.
With her health in the spotlight, Biles caused jitters among her vast fan base on Sunday when she briefly left the competition area after performing on her first apparatus, the balance beam, having re-aggravated a left calf injury.
She later returned to complete — and dominate — the remainder of her events, much to the relief of her fans and celebrities who had descended on Bercy Arena in Paris to get a glimpse of her Olympic return.
Biles’ mother said her daughter had assured her she was doing well following Sunday’s qualification and had returned to practice.
The women’s team final, which begins at 1615 GMT, features eight countries: the United States, Italy, China, Brazil, Japan, Canada, Britain and Romania.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Karen Braun, Chang-Ran Kim and Rory Carroll; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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