Simone Biles secured her seventh Olympic gold medal with a triumphant performance in the women’s vault final at the Paris Games on Saturday. The 27-year-old gymnast achieved an average score of 15.300 for her signature Yurchenko double pike and Cheng vaults, earning her second gold in this event since her victory in Rio de Janeiro eight years prior.
Rebeca Andrade of Brazil, who finished runner-up to Biles in the all-around final on Thursday, took silver, just ahead of American Jade Carey, who captured the bronze.
Biles is the second woman to win vault twice, joining Vera Casalavska of Czechoslovakia as a two-time gold medalist on the vault. Casalavska went back to back in 1964 and 1968. Biles now has 10 Olympic medals in her career, tied for the third most by a female gymnast. She also boosted her medal count at major international competitions to 40, the most by any gymnast.
The crowd at the packed Bercy Arena erupted as Biles was introduced. Adorned in a sequined red leotard, she gave another breathtaking performance that could mark her final vault competition.
Her score of 15.700 indicated that she only needed to avoid a mishap on her second vault to secure victory. She did more than that, nearly perfecting her Cheng, which involves a roundoff onto the springboard, a half twist onto the block, followed by 1 1/2 twists during a forward somersault.
The ensuing 14.900 meant the rest of the eight-woman field was going for second.
Andrade, the vault champion in Tokyo, put together two excellent vaults to claim silver and her third medal of the Games after a silver in the all-around and a bronze in the team final. Andrade’s average of 14.966 was well clear of everyone else.
Carey, who slipped during the women’s vault final in Tokyo and finished eighth, earned her third Olympic medal to go with the floor exercise gold she won in Tokyo and the team gold she captured with Biles on Tuesday.
Biles will have two more chances to boost her medal haul in Paris. She will compete in the balance beam and floor exercise finals on Monday.
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