The event finals of the balance beam at the Paris Olympics did not go as planned. Four of the eight competitors fell off during their routines, and a fifth had to reach down and grab the beam to prevent her from falling off. In addition, there were numerous wobbles, balance checks and nervy motions, as the competitors collectively struggled to get through their routines. At one point, commentator Laurie Hernandez even half-jokingly said someone should check the apparatus. Well, it turns out there was an “awkward” problem, but it had nothing to do with the equipment.
After the event finals were over, US standouts Simone Biles and Suni Lee, who both fell during their routines, spoke to the media, and they each pointed to the same “weird” problem: the silence. If you’ve ever been to a gymnastics meet or watched one, you’ve likely heard a lot of commotion. With numerous events happening at once, there’s almost always a hustle and bustle, plus music blaring from the floor routines, but that was not the case this time around. Here’s what Biles told reporters after the meet, per NBC…
It was really weird and awkward. We’ve asked several times if we can have some music, or some background noise. I’m not really sure what happened there, but yeah, not our favorite. None of us liked it.
Biles looked great during the early portion of her routine and seemed like a potential threat to add an eighth gold medal to her all-time great resume, but it was not to be, as she fell off the beam during a combination of flips in the back half. The same thing happened to her teammate Suni Lee, who was rolling and then seemingly fell out of nowhere after a landing was a fraction of an inch off. Afterwards, she too talked about the atmosphere and pointed to the same issue Biles had…
It was too quiet. I could literally hear myself breathing.
I’m sure the organizers will look into possible changes when the Summer Olympics head to Los Angeles in 2028, but what was bad news for Biles, Lee and several others yesterday turned out to be great news for Alice D’Amato. The Italian gymnast had a few wobbles during her routine but was mostly extremely solid, as she executed what she needed to and won a surprise gold medal, the first in Italy’s history in women’s gymnastics. She was joined on the podium by China’s Zhou Yaqin, who survived a near fall and a .5 deduction for touching the bar en route to a silver medal and D’Amato’s teammate from Italy Manila Esposito who won bronze at just seventeen and looked absolutely thrilled.
Fortunately for both Biles and Lee, there are plenty of great memories (and expensive leotards) to take home from Paris for them and their famous fans. Both women won a gold medal as part of the team competition and had great individual success as well, with Biles taking home golds in the all-around and vault, as well as a silver on floor exercise and Lee winning bronze in the all-around and bronze on the uneven bars.
The gymnastics events are officially over, but you can watch the rest of the Olympics for several more days, as track and field, volleyball and more events conclude.
