Simone Biles’ Olympic All-Around Gold Was a Coronation

It was hard to miss the message printed on people’s T–shirts throughout the Bercy Arena stands on Thursday during the women’s gymnastics all-around competition, complete with the image of a goat’s head to signify the Greatest of All Time.

Biles received the loudest cheers when her name was introduced—not just as the event started, but also every time she was up for one of the four apparatuses—vault, uneven bars, beam, and floor. Much of the crowd was there for one thing—to see Simone Biles crowned the new all-around queen.

And Biles did not disappoint. She earned gold, while Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won silver and Biles’ U.S. teammate Sunisa Lee, the all-around champion from the Tokyo Olympics, won bronze. Biles’ win continues the U.S.’s dominance in the event—an American gymnast has won the women’s all around at every Olympics since 2004.

This moment was a long time coming. In Tokyo in 2021, Biles was expected to repeat as the gold medalist in the event she won in Rio in 2016, but abruptly withdrew from most of the gymnastics events after experiencing the “twisties,” which disrupted her ability to twist and flip safely. Biles has since discussed the pressure and anxiety of managing the expectations leading up to the Tokyo Olympics, and the role they might have played in triggering the twisties.

In Paris, Biles has been stronger than ever, helping the U.S. women to qualify in first for the team competition and then leading the squad to gold in that event. It felt as if the entire arena seemed to be simply waiting for the inevitable coronation as the competition unfolded.