Simone Biles moves closer to third Olympic trip as injuries worsen at US trials

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Simone Biles’s decade-plus run redefining what’s possible in gymnastics is how she’s managed to stay healthy while doing it.

He is well aware of the danger lurking at every turn, every turn, every landing. Stopping everything and moving forward may be her greatest skill, one that was put to the test Friday night at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Before Biles even climbed the uneven bars in her first event, Kayla DiCello’s hopes of joining Biles in Paris were ended when she tore her right Achilles just a few feet on vault.

Shortly after, Shilize Jones forced him off the field with a leg injury, leaving the six-time World Championship medalist in a very bad condition.

That’s a lot, even for a 27-year-old who has often made what seemed impossible for so long seem easy.

As she said, the entire meeting was “so stressful, so overwhelming”.

still.

He said, “If we can do this, we can do anything.”

So while there were some uncharacteristically bad moments early on, Biles’ prodigious splash late on resulted in a total of 58.900, which put her in position to lock up an automatic berth on the five-woman team. The announcement was made on Sunday night.

Still, the image of his two teammates walking out in tears was hard to shake, all with an ever-present fear that never really goes away, no matter how long you do this for a living.

“There are concerns,” said Biles’ longtime co-coach Laurent Landi. “(It’s) absolutely fine, am I the next one to get hurt? What is going to happen to me?

Landy’s advice was simple and straightforward, the most effective way to communicate with the biggest star of the American Olympic movement.

“You can’t control it,” Landy told him. “So control the controllable.”

He has done. Even on a night when she wasn’t at her unparalleled best, she had no doubt that she was in control of her gymnastics and – perhaps most importantly – in control of her emotions.

While there was an unnaturally crooked and unstable balance beam routine that had Biles cursing for all the cameras in sight, her Yurchenko double pike vault also received a standing ovation, which was described in the sport’s code of The points are named after him and are considered to be the most difficult tasks undertaken by any man or woman in the world.

And so it goes for Biles, who will head to Paris to bookend the Olympic all-around gold she won as a teenager in 2016.

A lot has happened since then, a marriage, a few world titles and a memorable trip to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she pulled herself out of several finals to focus on her mental health.

She took a two-year break from competition after returning from Japan, but over the past 12 months she has looked as good as ever, joking after her record ninth national title earlier this month that she is “a fan of fine wine”. Kind of getting old.”

Biles hardly seems to be the only one.

Jordan Chiles, 23, is headed for an Olympic spot, just as she did three years ago. She finished in the top six in all four events on Friday, with injuries earlier this year that seemed to diminish her chances of making Paris.

Now, not so much. Yet Chiles laughed when asked whether his previous experience at this location helped him deal with the complex emotions of a meeting that could change the lives of the five women who hear their names at the end of it.

“No,” Chiles said. “I was literally just saying this this morning. I was like, ‘No matter what I’ve done in my life, this is the most stressful in my entire career.’ Because it happens that one night it seems that either you know whether you have succeeded or you have not.

Chiles is on the verge of returning to his sport’s biggest stage. Current Olympic champion Sunisa Lee does the same.

The 21-year-old Lee, who has spent much of the past two years battling kidney-related health issues, used excellent sets on uneven bars and balance beam to take third place in front of a hometown crowd.

Behind Lee was 24-year-old Jade Carey, the reigning Olympic champion on floor exercise. Carey, who has spent the past three years deftly straddling the line between collegiate and elite gymnastics, finished second to Biles on vault and fourth on floor.

The biggest question on Sunday will center on who will finish fifth. Jocelyn Roberson – one of the younger athletes in the 13-woman field at age 18 – used a powerful set on floor to finish fifth.

Yet USA Gymnastics officials insist they are not tied to the idea of ​​finishing in the top five in the ranking order at the end of the trials, which happened under previous leadership in 2021.

Kalia Lincoln had the second-best score on floor. Hazley Rivera seems to be getting better with each passing match and 2020 Olympic alternate and four-time World Championships medalist Leanne Wong has plenty of international experience.

Jones, the top American gymnast who wasn’t named Biles when she was healthy, has spent most of the past two years essentially looking like a lock. The competition probably ended before it officially started

The 21-year-old arrived at the Target Center already with a slightly torn labrum in her right shoulder. Then she landed awkwardly while warming up on vault, which also twisted her left knee.

She went out for a while but returned to familiarize herself with the rest of the field. She dropped the vault in the first round but returned patiently on uneven bars, her best event.

While Jones scored an excellent 14.625, despite performing a slightly tired routine, she quietly walked off the podium. He talked to the medical staff for several minutes before leaving forever.

It’s unclear whether Jones will try it on Sunday. What is clear – what has always been clear since her senior debut in 2013 – is that Biles is there, and so is everyone else.

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