NPR

3 Black women create an Olympic first in gymnastics

By Bill Chappell

Published August 5, 2024 at 9:49 AM PDT

Simone Biles, left, joins teammate Jordan Chiles in pointing toward gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil. Biles won silver and Chiles bronze in the women's floor exercise at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games — the first time three Black athletes have shared the podium in Olympic gymnastics.

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Rebeca Andrade, Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles capped an exhilarating gymnastics meet at the Paris Olympics with a first, as the trio stood on the podium together for the floor exercise.

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They’re the first three Black gymnasts to share the top three spots in an Olympics — a feat that also occurred at last year's world championships, when Biles and Andrade shared the podium with Shilese Jones in the individual all-around.

Along with that slice of history, emotions were running high for the three gymnasts who prevailed in the final event at Bercy Arena in Paris.

Team USA's Simone Biles (silver) and Jordan Chiles (bronze) book-end Brazil's Rebeca Andrade (gold) as they pose during the podium ceremony for the floor exercise event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on Monday.

Gold medal winner Andrade, who has become a national treasure for Brazil as she overcame poverty and then three ACL knee injuries to win international titles, is now her country’s most decorated Olympic athlete, with six medals.

For Chiles, the bronze is her fist individual Olympic medal — and it came after an appeal over her score resulted in a dramatic shift. Chiles’ coaches on Team USA had questioned whether judges gave her appropriate credit for a leaping skill in her routine. A review backed the coaches.

"I didn't even realize my coaches put in an inquiry,” Chiles said afterward, according to the Olympics’ news service. But she was the first to see the change on the board, as her 13.666 score, which had placed her fifth, grew by a tenth of a point. Suddenly, she was a bronze medalist.

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For Biles, the all-time great won silver in her last event in what could be her final Olympic Games. The new Olympics medal is her 11th, the most won by any U.S. gymnast.