Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles medaled in the Olympic floor individual finals behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade after a last-minute score change bumped Jordan into third place.
Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles each added another medal to their collection.
The two athletes from Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games finished the floor final with Simone in second place—finishing second to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade—and Jordan earning bronze.
The medal allotment came with some unexpected twists, however, when Jordan’s original score landed her in fourth place. The 23-year-old performed last and was awarded a score of 13.666, which placed her in fourth place behind Romania’s Ana Barbosu.
However, after a score inquiry was entered, Jordan’s final score was upped to 13.766 after the initial evaluation didn’t credit Jordan with a tour jeté full she added in last-minute—a change her coaches added after feeling like they “had nothing to lose.”
Her new score just surpassed Ana’s score of 13.700.
Jordan could be seen crying after realizing she’d earned a spot at the podium, later telling reporters, “I just wanted to come out and do the best I could…I have no words, I’m just very proud of myself.”
For Simone, she earned a 14.133 after stepping out of bounds on two of her tumbling passes, landing her in second place behind Rebeca’s score of 14.166.
The win marks Simone’s second silver medal and her eleventh overall medal across three Olympic Games. (The 27-year-old also competed in the beam finals where she placed fifth after both she and teammate Suni Lee took uncharacteristic falls during their routines.)
But while the Simone is often expected to come out on top, Rebeca’s win doesn’t sting.
After all, the two hold the other in the highest regard after years of competing against the other.
As Simone told cameras of Rebeca after the Brazilian athlete won gold, “I have such respect for her, she’s such a good competitor.”
In fact, Rebeca is probably the first athlete in a long time to make Simone—who is widely considered the GOAT of gymnastics—sweat. It’s a truth the American athlete joked about after she edged out Rebeca for gold in the vault individual finals August 1.
“I don’t wanna compete with Rebeca no more—I’m tired,” Simone quipped to reporters after the competition. “She’s way too close.”
Though she couldn’t help laughing as she added, “I’ve never had an athlete that close, so it definitely put me on my toes and it brought out the best athlete in myself.”
