Written by Meri-Jo Borzilleri at Bleacher Reports.com
The most coveted title in Olympic gymnastics is the individual all-around, but the biggest battle in Rio de Janeiro will almost certainly be for second place—or third.
Credit 19-year-old American Simone Biles. She has been every bit as good as advertised in these Games, so much so that her slight bobble on the balance beam in Tuesday’s team competition, one the U.S. won easily, made news.
As the first gymnast in history to win three straight world championships, Biles has been anointed the best gymnast ever before even setting foot in Rio. Mary Lou Retton and Nastia Liukin, all-around Olympic champions in 1984 and 2008, respectively, were among those chiming in on her greatness.
Not only that, but her teammate, Aly Raisman, is heavily favored to win silver after she and Biles went 1-2 in all-around qualification Sunday.
But this is Biles’ event. Consider the all-around’s iconic figures: Larisa Latynina, Nadia Comaneci, Retton, and put the teenager among them.
If, as expected, Biles pulls it off, it will be the first time in history one country has produced four consecutive all-around Olympic champions, men or women.
For the men, Italy (1908-1920) and the Soviet Union (1952-1960) managed three. For the women, the Soviets won three (1952-1960), along with the United States—Carly Patterson in 2004, Nastia Liukin in 2008 and Gabby Douglas in 2012.
Here are some storylines to follow:
Can Biles do it?
One down. Four to go.
Biles has been the talk of the sport—and of this event in particular—since winning her first world all-around title in 2013.
Thankfully, for those experiencing “Biles Hype Overload,” that talk is coming to fruition this week.
The first-time Olympian finally became a gold medalist Tuesday after helping the U.S. win the team title. Now she breaks out on her own, and the results are expected to be just as impressive. She is favored to win gold in all-around, then individual vault, beam and floor over the next week.
If she manages that, she will accomplish another women’s gymnastics first by winning five golds in a single Games. That’s Eric Heiden (speedskating) territory.
In Tuesday’s team competition, she was the only American in all four events. She put up the field’s best scores in three, posting a 15.9 on vault, 15.3 on beam and 15.8 on floor.
In Sunday qualifying, she did the same, winning vault, beam and floor, and she scored a respectable 15.0 (placing 14th) on her worst event, the uneven bars.
Raisman’s redemption?
Lost in the past three years of buzz about Biles and Gabby Douglas’ return has been Raisman’s quiet campaign for personal redemption.
The two-time Olympic team captain and oldest member at 22 finished tied for third with Russia’s Aliya Mustafina in the 2012 Olympics all-around. So both win bronze, right?
Wrong. Mystifyingly, gymnastics does not give duplicate medals for this. Instead, they determine the medalist by dropping each competitor’s lowest score and calculate the other three. Mustafina won.
To be fair, Raisman won her 2012 balance-beam bronze in similar manner after a tie with Catalina Ponor, where the tiebreaker is execution score.
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