By Rory Carroll
PARIS (Reuters) – Simone Biles has a chance to make Olympic history at the Paris Games alongside an experienced U.S. team she credits with lifting her up after she considered walking away from the sport she revolutionised.
Biles withdrawal from Tokyo three years ago due to a mental block that made it unsafe to continue rocked those Games and raised questions about whether the greatest gymnast of all time would compete in a third Olympics.
But after a two-year hiatus and with the help of her teammates and a therapist, she is poised to become the first American gymnast to win more than seven Olympic medals and show the world that she is not just back, she is better than ever.
Biles, 27, will be joined by three of her compatriots from Tokyo – Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Sunisa Lee – as well as 16-year-old first-time Olympian Hezly Rivera.
“I don’t think they realize how much they helped me,” Biles said in the recently released Netflix documentary “Simone Biles: Rising”.
“I wanted to quit 500,000 times. And I would have if it weren’t for them.”
With Biles back, the U.S. are the runaway favourites to win team gold after being forced to settle for silver in Tokyo behind Russia, which is barred from competing in Paris due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Biles is also a heavy favourite on vault due to the high degree of difficulty of her thrilling Yurchenko double pike, one of her five signature moves.
She is also expected to take gold in the all-around, floor routine and possibly balance beam, meaning should could walk away from Paris with five gold medals.
Behind Rebeca Andrade and Flavia Saraiva, Brazil will look to grab silver behind the U.S. in the team event like they did at last year’s world championships.
China’s prowess on asymmetric bars and beam could power them to the podium as well while Italy and France are also bringing strong teams to Paris.
On the men’s side it will be a showdown between Japan and China for team gold with the U.S., Ukraine and Britain battling it out for podium spots.
Tokyo all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan will be a strong favourite to repeat but will face challenges from Chinese, Ukrainian and U.S. gymnasts.
Gymnastics will be held at Bercy Arena in Paris from July 27 to Aug. 5.
(Additional reporting by Karen Braun in Paris; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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