Australia

Sunisa Lee wins gymnastics gold for US as Simone Biles watches on


Without Simone Biles, America’s dominance of women’s gymnastics has continued with a gold in the individual all-around competition for the fifth Olympics in a row.

Sunisa Lee, 18, clinched a spot in the history books for the US in the final rotation of the floor exercise with a total score of 57.433.

“It’s crazy,” said Lee, the youngest member of the US team.

“It doesn’t feel like real life at all.”

Biles congratulated her team mate on social media: “[She] absolutely killed it!!! OLYMPIC CHAMPION RIGHT HERE !!! So so so beyond proud of you!!!!”

Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, 22, won a surprise silver, her country’s first-ever Olympic gymnastics medal, while the Russian Olympic Committee’s Angelina Melnikova took the bronze medal.

Lee’s teammates Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles and Mykayla Skinner cheered her on in the stands.(

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Biles, who stunned the Tokyo Games two nights ago by withdrawing from the all-around team event after a single vault, watched from the front row.

It is still not clear whether she will compete in any of the individual events in the coming days.

Earlier on Thursday, Biles tweeted her appreciation for all the support that had flooded in after her candid statements about the pressure she was feeling shone a light on athletes’ mental health.

Heir apparent emerges earlier than expected

Considered heir apparent to Biles, 18-year-old Lee’s moment arrived sooner than expected.

Biles, winner of every all-around competition she has entered since 2013, threw the fight for the Olympic gold wide open when she decided not to defend her Rio Games all-around title.

She had already dropped out of the team event on Tuesday after one poor vault, citing the need to focus on her mental health.

“Going into this meet I feel like there was a lot of pressure on me because I have been second to her (Biles) the whole season basically,” said Lee.

“So I knew that people were kind of counting on me to either get second or win the gold medal. I tried not to focus on that because I knew that I would get too nervous.”

In the end, the stage was set for another thriller at the Ariake arena that has seen almost every medal decided by the final athlete in the final rotation.

As the gymnasts marched over to the floor, only 0.201 separated the top three of Lee, Andrade and 16-year-old Russian Vladislava Urazova, leaving everything to play for.

Lee put down a marker first with a score of 13.700 but she left the door open a crack for Andrade, the second-last to compete, to take the gold.

But the Brazilian, who had previously looked so poised, finally cracked by stepping out on her first tumbling run and then did so a second time, scoring 13.666, with the mistakes likely costing her the gold.

Victory confirmed

As the marks flashed on the scoreboard and Lee’s victory was confirmed, her team mates in the stands leapt and cheered.

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“It just means a lot to me to have all of them here cheering for me,” said Lee.

“It sucks that I can’t have Simone on the floor with me but just to even have her in the arena was very helpful because she is an inspiration to me that I look up to.

Lee stepped onto the floor with more support than just her team mates and family.

She also carried the hopes of the Hmong American community, of which she is a part.

Lee is the first of the Hmong group that came to the US as refugees from Laos following the turmoil of the Vietnam War to ever reach an Olympics much less stand atop an Olympic podium.

“They are the most supportive people ever and I just feel like many people from the Hmong community don’t ever try to reach their goals,” said Lee.

“It’s very restricted.

“I want people to know that you can reach your dreams and you can just do what you want to do because you never know what is going to happen in the end.

“Don’t ever give up on your dreams.”

Reuters



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