To put Simone Biles ‘at ease,’ U.S. team says star can do less in Paris
PARIS — Simone Biles will have the option to compete on fewer than all four apparatuses in the Olympic team final, a team official said Tuesday, a decision that could help “put Simone’s mind at ease” three years after she withdrew from the team final because of a disorienting mental block.
Chellsie Memmel, the technical lead of the U.S. high performance staff, said the decision will be up to Biles. Biles is not expected to speak to the media until after she’s done competing.
The U.S. women will be heavy favorites to win here next week, especially without Russia competing, so Biles slotting into fewer lineups in the marquee event would not likely hurt the Americans’ chances of cruising to the team gold. The United States won last fall’s world championships by more than two full points, despite shuffling the lineups at the last minute because of an injury and counting a low score on beam.
Memmel said that at the team’s training camp in Katy, Tex., Biles’s coach, Cecile Landi, approached her to have a conversation about the expectations on Biles in the team final. According to Memmel, Landi asked: “If she doesn’t feel like it’s going to be in her best interest to do all four events that day, is that an option for her?”
Memmel said she responded: “Absolutely. If that’s what she needs to continue to be at her best for her team and for herself, then that’s what we’re going to do. Because there are still four other members on our team.”
In the team final, three gymnasts perform on each apparatus. Though bars is her weakest event, Biles is one of the top three U.S. athletes on all four and would likely earn a spot in each lineup. However, that would mean Biles performs on all four apparatuses in the qualifying round, the team final and the all-around final — competitions that are held over the span of five days. Biles would possibly perform each routine one more time in the individual apparatus finals. She is expected to advance to the vault, beam and floor finals, and she could make it to the bars final. Rarely do gymnasts have such a taxing competitive load.
Memmel said Biles also had this option at the world championships last year, but she chose to perform on all four apparatuses in the team final.
“That’s where it’s like that double-edged sword for Simone, where she wants to be able to help but also wants to be able to be at her best,” Memmel said.
The U.S. team will wait to finalize its lineups for the qualifying round until after Thursday’s official training session in the arena. The staff can adjust the lineup if needed ahead of the team final as well.
Biles did not perform on each apparatus in the team final at world championships in 2014 and 2015. By 2016, her routine on bars was strong enough to warrant a spot in the three-gymnast lineup.
Biles’s dominance has been the force that pushes the United States far ahead of its challengers in team competitions. At the last Olympics, Biles has said, a person from “our inside team,” whom she declined to name, referred to her as the “gold medal token.”
“That was really tough,” Biles said last year.
Memmel, who began this job at USA Gymnastics in 2022, said she would not relay similar sentiments to Biles.
In Tokyo, as pressure mounted after the U.S. women struggled in the qualifying round, Biles began having trouble with twisting elements. Her body would get lost in the air, and she wouldn’t complete the right number of twists — a dangerous mental block known in gymnastics as “the twisties.”
After her vault went awry in the team final, she stepped aside for the remainder of the competition and withdrew from several other finals, decisions that prioritized her physical and mental health. She performed in only the beam final, changing her dismount to one that did not require twisting. Biles won a bronze medal, then took a lengthy break from the sport.
She returned to competition in 2023 and has won every competition since. Her routines are just as difficult as before, and she has not shown any signs of trouble in pressure-filled moments. The Olympics, however, will be her biggest test since Tokyo.
“Seeing her now, I think she’s in a really good place,” Memmel said. “She’s more excited about gymnastics. She’s enjoying it, and I think this is a redemption for her. And I think she’s going to go out and do an amazing job and we’re going to support her.”