Biles thrills in Paris Olympics despite injury scare

Simone Biles made a stunning return to Olympic competition on Sunday, powering through a left calf injury to get her multiple-medal bid off to a rousing start.

The US superstar, aiming to add to the four gold medals she won in a dazzling 2016 Rio Olympics campaign, appeared to tweak her left calf warming up for her second apparatus, the floor exercise.

It didn’t stop her from soaring through her signature Yurchenko double pike vault — now known as the Biles II — which even with a big step back on landing earned a 9.4 for execution for a total of 15.800 points.

She had another step back landing her second vault, but made light of the injury as she crawled back toward teammates on her hands and knees laughing all the way.

She closed out her day by sticking the landing on her uneven bars routine, receiving another huge ovation and beaming as she shared a dance with teammate Jordan Chiles.

With two of the five qualifying sessions complete Biles topped the all-around standings with 59.566 points.

Teammate Suni Lee — the Tokyo Olympics all-around champion — was in second — a promising start for the US team as they vie to regain team gold after settling for silver in Japan.

At the end of their session the USA were assured of a team finals berth with score of 172.296 points.

Italy were in second, China in third and Britain in fourth. Team medal contenders Brazil and France were scheduled to compete later.

Brazil, led by Tokyo vault gold medallist Rebeca Andrade, won world championships silver behind the United States last year.

Andrade has indicated she could attempt a never-been-done Yurchenko triple twist vault in Paris in a bid to retain her title and help her team to the podium.

France, led by Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos and three-time Olympian Marine Boyer, boast one of their strongest Olympic squads ever.

But Biles remains the benchmark.

“She’s just out of this world, isn’t she?” British gymnast Ruby Evans said of Biles. “We’ve never had anyone like her before and I don’t think we ever will, ever again.”

Biles led the vault and floor exercise standings and was second in balance beam behind China’s Zhou Yaqin. But her eighth spot in uneven bars meant she could miss out on the eight-woman final of that event.

Biles won four gold medals in a dazzling 2016 Rio Olympics campaign, but she withdrew from multiple events at the Tokyo Games as she battled the disorientating condition that gymnasts call “twisties”.

She still went home with a silver and bronze and was lauded for speaking openly about mental health struggles.

AFP