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US Olympic gymnastics trials live updates: Simone Biles, Suni Lee highlight Paris team

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US Olympic gymnastics trials live updates: Simone Biles, Suni Lee highlight Paris team

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MINNEAPOLIS – Simone Biles is your U.S. Olympic gymnastics champion.

Biles, who at 27 years old is the oldest female American gymnast since the 1950s to make the Olympics, automatically secured her trip to the Paris Olympics with her victory in Minneapolis on Sunday, finishing more than five points ahead of the rest of the field with a two-day all-around score of 117.225.

Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera will join Biles at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I knew I wasn’t done after the performances in Tokyo. Getting back in the gym and trusting the process with Cecile and Laurent,” Biles said, referring to co-coaches Cecile and Laurent Landi, “I knew I’d be back.”

Check out all the scores, results highlights and analysis below.

The decision is in, and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team for the 2024 Paris Olympics has been finalized. Simone Biles is on it, of course. She is heavily favored to win her second all-around Olympic gold medal, and tasked with leading the Americans to another team victory at the Games. Here’s what you need to know about Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee, Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera and Biles.

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Next stop, Paris for Simone Biles. Biles concluded her performance at Olympic trials with a floor exercise routine that has become a fan favorite and generated buzz on social media. She soared up 12 feet above the floor on her first pass, according to NBC, and turned in another brilliant performance for a score of 14.275. 

As the crowd gave her a standing ovation, Biles flashed a bright smile before sitting on the top step of the set of stairs going up to the floor. She appeared to be either trying to catch her breath, soak up the moment or both. The score gave her a two-day all-around total of 117.225 — and another Olympic trials victory.

Simone Biles is headed to the Olympics for a third time, seeking a better experience than the nightmare of Tokyo three years ago. “She’s calm. She laughs. She’s back to her same goofy self that we had missed,” Cecile Landi, who coaches Biles with husband Laurent Landi, said last week. “She has a few tools that are personal to her but that help her stay calm and remember why she’s here.”

It isn’t to add more medals to her collection. With 37 from the world championships and Olympics, including four golds from the Rio Games in 2016, Biles is already the most decorated gymnast, male or female. It isn’t to try to burnish her legacy, either. She long ago established herself as the greatest gymnast in history and another title, even a second all-around crown, isn’t going to change how history remembers her.

It’s for herself. And it’s because she can, not long after she feared she couldn’t. Read Nancy Armour’s full column on Simone Biles.

Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Hezly Rivera spoke on the NBC broadcast after the team was named.

Suni Lee: “Well, I was just reminded of my goals every day and constantly surrounded by people who never let me give up. I’m so thankful because a year ago, I didn’t even think this was …” she said as she choked up and shed some tears, “yeah, I didn’t think this was possible and I’m so grateful for all these amazing ladies. They’re absolutely incredible, so I can’t wait to be in Paris.”

Jade Carey: “This is the most stressful meet I’ve ever been a part of in my life. Those past experiences really helped me, reminded me why I’m doing this sport and where I wanna go and I couldn’t do it without my family, my coaches, my friends, even these ladies right here, so I’m ready to rock it in Paris with them.”

Jordan Chiles: “Honestly, one thing I can say is (it’s) all God. I wouldn’t be where I am right now if it wasn’t for him, if it wasn’t for these amazing ladies, my coaches, my family, my friends. I was out here today doing it for the two I lost last year, my grandpa and my aunt. They always believed in my and that’s what made me continue to push my dream, push to another olympics, which is crazy to say. And this was for you, Uncle.” At the end, Chiles gave a mod to Megan Thee Stallion and her signature ad-lib: “And Megan, I’m going to the, AH, Olympics.”

Hezly Rivera: “I’m so grateful for everything. I’ve made a lot of sacrifices to be here, so I”m so incredibly grateful forever. I could not be more happy. I’m ecstatic.” 

SImone Biles is 27 years old and is the oldest female American gymnast to make the Olympics since the 1950s. After the team was announced on Sunday, her four teammates expressed their gratitude for Biles offering her guidance and mentorship, something Biles said is important to her. 

“I’ve been in their exact same spot, I know exactly how they’re feeling and if I can be a mentor and a guide, then that’s what I’m gonna do to lighten the load,” Biles said on NBC.

And in a funny twist, Biles may be the new grandma of the team. 

“I used to call Aly (Raisman) grandma, and I’ve surpassed that,” Biles said with a laugh, “so I love you, Aly, and I love these girls, so I’m gonna take care of them in Paris.”

On her journey to this point: “Being in a good mental spot, seeing my therapist every Thurdsay is kind of religious for me, so that’s why I’m here today.”

On being the oldest female American gymnast since the 1950s to head to the Olympics: “I knew I wasn’t done after the performances in Tokyo. Getting back in the gym and trusting the process with Cecile and Laurent,” Biles said, referring to co-coaches Cecile and Laurent Landi, “I knew I’d be back.”

On Taylor Swift responding to her floor routine and if Swift knew Biles would use her music: “I think my team talks to her team sometimes and I’ve met her a couple times, so it’s been really sweet.”

Simone Biles dropped an expletive as she left the balance beam Friday night, disgusted after an uncharacteristically shaky routine. On Sunday, she appeared to just be exasperated. 

Biles was absolutely brilliant for roughly 75% of her routine until she lost her balance on an aerial and fell off the beam. This time, she had a “what the heck” sort of grin on her face as she left the podium, and NBC’s cameras caught her saying “that was so good” until the point where it went wrong.

The crazy thing is that Biles still got a score of 13.900, even with her fall. And she will enter the final rotation with a gigantic lead in the all-around standings. With one rotation left, Biles has a score of 102.500.

Simone Biles put up a 14.200 on bars, which was 0.250 lower than her score on Friday night.

Simone Biles simply has bigger skills than everyone else, as she showed with her Yurchenko double pike vault. It’s so difficult few men even try it, yet Biles gets so much height and power she actually overcooked it and had to run backwards. She got a 15.5, down from the first night of trials but still likely to be one of the few scores above 15 of the night. As understandably shaky as everyone looked Friday night, they look that good tonight and are cooking with gas so far.

Suni Lee put up a 14.100 on vault on Night 2.

Lee scored a 13.850 on floor.

Lee rocked her routine on uneven bars, her signature event, and had the hometown crowd roaring with each of her release moves. More impressive? She’d struggled in the warmup just minutes before. A broad grin broke across Lee’s face after she finished, and the crowd gave her a standing ovation as she trotted off the podium. The judges were equally wowed, giving her a 14.875. That vaulted her into second place behind Biles, whose place on the Paris team has been all but assured since she returned.

Read Nancy Armour’s full story on Suni Lee’s health journey after dealing with a kidney disease and how it changed her gymnastics mindset.

Simone Biles is always there with the pep talk when Suni Lee needs one. Lee had a rough go on balance beam, falling on her mount and needing to put her hands down later in the routine, which counts just as much as a fall. She looked upset after finishing the routine and immediately headed backstage, not even waiting to see her score. (A 12.825.) 

When she came back out, she and Biles chatted and both were soon seen laughing. After a few seconds, Lee gave a nod, like, “OK, I’m better.” 

The scene was reminiscent of what happened the second night of the U.S. championships. Lee had botched her vault, her first event, and ran backstage. Biles followed, asking if she was OK and telling her she needed to trust in her gymnastics. And if Lee couldn’t, Biles said she’d do it for her. Biles then stayed by the uneven bars podium to watch Lee compete, cheering her on throughout her routine before heading back to her own event. 

Rotation 1

  • VAULT: Simone Biles (15.500), Jade Carey (14.675), Jordan Chiles: 14.500, Joscelyn Roberson: 14.500, Tiana Sumanasekera (14.350), Dulcy Caylor (13.900), Zoey Molomo: 13.850, Evey Lowe (13.675).
  • BARS: Sunisa Lee (14.875), Hezly Rivera (14.300), Leanne Wong (13.900), Kaliya Lincoln (13.450), Simone Rose (13.200).

Rotation 2

  • BEAM: Hezly Rivera (14.275), Leanne Wong (13.650), Simone Rose (13.375), Kaliya Lincoln (13.175), Suni Lee (12.825)
  • BARS: Jordan Chiles (14.200), Simone Biles (14.200), Dulcy Caylor (13.275), Jade Carey (13.075), Evey Lowe (12.875), Tiana Sumanasekera (12.825), Zoey Molomo (12.550)

Rotation 3

  • BEAM: Joscelyn Roberson (14.050), Tiana Sumanasekera (13.950), Simone Biles (13.900), Jade Carey (13.625), Evey Lowe (13.450), Zoey Molomo (13.200), Dulcy Caylor (12.425), Jordan Chiles (12.225)
  • FLOOR: Suni Lee (13.850), Kaliya Lincoln (13.650), Leanne Wong (13.625), Simone Rose (13.375), Hezly Rivera (13.550)

Rotation 4

  • FLOOR: Simone Biles (14.725), Jordan Chiles (14.100), Joscelyn Roberson (13.925), Tiana Sumanasekera (13.725), Zoey Molomo (12.950), Evey Lowe (12.825), Dulcy Caylor (12.425); Jade Carey to come.
  • VAULT: Leanne Wong (14.500), Suni Lee (14.100), Kaliya Lincoln (14.250), Hezly Rivera (14.200), Simone Rose (13.575).

During the commercial break, the in-arena host at Target Center introduced the crowd to a 106-year-old World War II veteran who is in attendance, seated near the vault. The host said he had heard that the veteran had a favorite athlete, and asked who it is.

“Simone. Biles,” the 106-year-old said, with a dramatic pause.

Biles then jogged over toward the vault and signaled to him, making a heart sign with her hands as the crowd applauded.

Simone Biles sat down with Alex Cooper to talk about when she knew something was off at the Tokyo Olympics and what was running through her mind.

Shilese Jones is not competing Sunday after sustaining a knee injury in warmups about 48 hours before, but she is still on hand at Target Center, watching the competition from a suite with her mother and coach. Jones could still technically be named to the Olympic team, because she completed an uneven bars routine on the first night of Olympic trials. But after withdrawing from nationals and missing almost the entirety of trials, it seems like a remote possibility.

Jones was one of three athletes who suffered injuries in competition or warmups this week. Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello both ruptured Achilles tendons. “Before this week started, many people would’ve had those three athletes on the Olympic team,” NBC analyst Samantha Peszek said on Sunday’s broadcast. “So it changes things.”

Jordan Chiles clapped on the runway as she awaited her second vault. The crowd joined along. And then Chiles turned in a 14.500.

Yes. Widely considered to be the greatest gymnast ever, Biles will be making her third appearance at the Summer Olympics. She won four golds and a bronze at the 2016 Rio Games, then a silver and bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. 

Suni Lee is in good shape to make the five-person U.S. team for the Paris Olympics. She was fourth at the national championships in early June and has upgraded her routines on uneven bars and floor since then. But a health crisis 15 months ago — she developed a kidney disease that caused her to retain so much fluid she couldn’t even put on her grips — has upended her life. There were days she couldn’t even get out of bed. 

Lee said a phone call she got Jan. 4, the details she wants to keep private, was a turning point for her. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going back into the gym tomorrow and I’m going to be better than I ever was.’ That was the day I was like, ‘Yep, this is what I want. And I’m gonna put my mind into it,’” she said. Read Nancy Armour’s full story on Suni Lee’s health journey. 

Pop superstar Taylor Swift responded to a post on social media about Simone Biles’ floor routine on Friday night, which features Swift’s “Ready For it.”  

How many Olympics has Simone Biles been to? 

Biles has competed in two editions of the Summer Olympics: The 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, and the 2021 Games in Tokyo. However, she only competed in some of her scheduled events in 2021 after experiencing a case of the “twisties,” which caused her to lose track of where she was in the air, jeopardizing her physical safety. 

Simone Biles was 19 years old at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Simone Biles has won four Olympic gold medals, all of them at the 2016 Rio Games. She led the “Final Five” to team gold, claimed the individual all-around gold and won two of the four individual events: Floor exercise and vault. She has also won a silver medal (in the 2021 team competition) and two Olympic bronzes on balance beam in 2016 and 2021. 

Netflix released the trailer recently for “Simone Biles: Rising” and said the four-part docuseries will begin streaming July 17, nine days before the Opening Ceremony. “Rising” follows Biles’ return to competition after a case of “the twisties” forced her out of most of the Tokyo Games.

Here’s a look at her leotards over the years.

The 2024 Paris Olympics begins with the Opening Ceremony on July 26. Gymnastics competition begins July 27 with men’s qualification. Women’s qualification is July 28.

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