Next Sunday, finally without rain in Paris, the Arena Bercy she is partying. Music at a good volume on the speakers to entertain the staff, almost at full capacity because it is a special day. There is a commotion in the waiting and a nervous silence when the gymnasts who will participate in today's rotations are announced. There is applause when accompanying China, Italy and the representatives of Germany and Algeria, and a little less when the Israeli Lihie Raz appears. But there is an explosion when the American team is welcomed: Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Sunisa Lee and of course an earthquake when a magnificent team appears. Simone Biles. A star please, for all he did in his performances, and unintentionally, for all he stopped doing.
Without leaving the black coat until the last moment, she warms up and stretches her legs and arms while her companions are already testing the balance beam, her first element. In his own warm-up, there is already a ovation from the greats. And what remains.
A gymnasium is always noisy and can even be disorienting. All the athletes compete simultaneously on the various apparatuses and the landings on the mat, the rubbing of hands on the elements, even the air trail left by the moving bodies, the music that accompanies the floor exercise is added to them. And the stands decide what to applaud and for whom, so the tumult is remarkable.
On one side the Algerian Kaylia Nemour Perform a routine with great confidence in the asymmetric exercises. In the other corner Yihan Zhang performs with flying colors. And suddenly a murmur comes out of nowhere and when you turn your head to the source you discover Simone Biles approaching her first performance, on the balance beam. The American returns to the place of dizziness, well three years ago he said goodbye to Tokyo 2020 in the same apparatus after a plan shortened by ghosts: the pressure got to him and he dropped out of the team and individual finals.
The American leads the teamand all the gymnastics, with a natural grace, as if that were not the case. Who measures 142 centimeters, but fills the scene as if it were three times as high. The surrounding bustle stops immediately. No one jumps, no one turns, no one warms up, no one moves, no one speaks. The volume of the music and the stands are lowered, it seems that another, special and unique stage has been turned on where exclusivity parades. It is Biles' turn. And the gymnastics planet stops.
Only she moves, flawless, firm and safe. A 14.733 in his first year Paris 2024first of the element, right hand twice to the chest at the end. I'm here. Biles is back.
For excel individually and as a team: She talks to her classmates, moves her shoulders to dance and clear her head, does not stop in her chair, watches, applauds, encourages, the first to hug Jade Carey after a fall that left her out of bounds during her floor exercise. And of course, to improve the group's score, in this exercise you can see that Biles practices another sport called gymnastics, but because there is no other name yet. The height he reaches, the turns he makes, the courage he allows himself, are in records of another high class, despite one foot out of the reception: 14.600.
The challenge against herself is even more unequal in the jump, where a timid applause forces itself on, but stops when she approaches the beginning of the street. Raise your arms and direct the emotions of the staff. Because the stands in those few seconds think about a mathematical exercise of angles, heights and vertices that holds the breath until the landing activates the button to expel the air and the huge applause. In it a broad smile, joy and relief, for a score of 15.800 in the first jump; a little more serious in the second, 14.800. There is some discomfort in the area of the left ankle and there is a bandage, but he does not intend to retire now that he has returned with full mental and physical strength.
This is just classification, but in the duel against gravity, Biles pushes the boundaries of what is possible even further. No fear of heights or ghosts. Biles is here.