Fighting through pain
Simone Biles experienced pain in her left calf on the first day of the women’s gymnastics competition in the Paris Olympics on Sunday, but the American superstar never considered aborting any of her four apparatus routines, her coaches said.Biles, a four-time Olympic gold medalist competing in her third Games, was seen limping at times during the qualifying competition and also as she walked past reporters after she had powered the US to the top of the team standings at Bercy Arena.“Just a little pain in her calf,” US coach Cecile Landi told reporters, even as celebrities counting Tom Cruise, Arianna Grande and John Legend, among others, came in full force to watch Biles’ return to the grandest sporting stage.
Biles was also seen leaving the competition area after performing on her first apparatus, the balance beam, but returned to complete her routines on the floor exercise, vault and uneven bars. She had her left leg and ankle tightly strapped before showing off her dazzling skills on her last three apparatus.
She earned the top scores on the floor (14.600) and vault (15.300) and is also the leading qualifier for Thursday’s all around final.
Landi said Biles, 27, felt pain in her calf “a couple weeks ago,” but that it had stopped before resurfacing on Sunday.
It was “never in her mind” that she would not continue her full program as planned after she began to feel pain.Chellsie Memmel, the technical lead for the team, said it was too soon to say how serious the injury was.
“I need to speak with Simone and our medical staff first so I’m not going to give you an update now,” Memmel said.
“Just going to make sure she’s OK.”Stars watching a star“It’s awesome,” Cruise told Reuters in the stands at the arena.
“Great stories, great athletes. It’s incredible what they have to do, the sense of accomplishment,” he said.
Legend and wife Chrissy Teigen said there was nowhere they would rather be.
“This was on our bucket list, we wanted to make sure we came to this event. We’re very excited,” he told Reuters.
“They represent the best of America and we are so proud of them and excited for them. Let’s go USA.”
The sold-out arena erupted when the US team was announced and let out a deafening roar when four-time Olympic gold medalist Biles was introduced.
Other celebrities on hand included rapper Snoop Dogg, actress Jessica Chastain and NFL great Larry Fitzgerald.
“She is so resilient to be able to overcome that and put herself back in position from a few years ago to be able to do something that is truly remarkable,” Fitzgerald said. —Reuters
