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Simone Biles receives her bronze medal for balance beam on Tuesday at the Tokyo Olympics. ROBERT DEUTSCH, USA TODAY |
China's Guan Chenchen and Tang Xijing won gold and silver in
the last Olympic event for women's artistic gymnastics.
Biles looked happy and relieved after dismounting the
four-inch-wide beam, smiling and waving at the crowd to roaring applause in the
nearly empty stadium.
Judges gave her a 14.000 score for a set that included a
"wolf turn" and a double-pike dismount.
U.S. gymnast and all-around individual champion Sunisa Lee
started her routine cleanly and saved herself from a near-fall in the final
seconds, scoring a 13.866. She ended up placing fifth.
"I'm really proud of myself, I'm actually super happy
with the way this turned out," Lee said. "I really love Simone and
just having her by my side was super great because she is a role model to
me."
Biles said last week that she was dealing with a dreaded and
terrifying phenomenon know as the twisties. She withdrew from the team final
shortly after a difficult first vault, and then pulled out of the individual
all-around and the three other event finals.
She said the outpouring of support she received after her withdrawal from the team and all-around finals meant a lot to her. It "has made me realize I'm more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before," she said last week.