Queen gets her flowers 💐🥇
Your Olympics essentials.
- What happened yesterday: Discus thrower Valarie Allman won gold for the second straight Summer Games! Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles won silver and bronze, respectively, on floor! Caroline Marks won gold in surfing! Pole vaulter Sam Kendricks won silver, despite gashing his hand! Noah Lyles cruised to an easy opening-round win of the 200m sprint! We made an Olympics bingo card for you! Check out all the day’s highlights.
- What’s happening today: Gabby Thomas, McKenzie Long and Brittany Brown run in the women’s 200m sprint final! The USWNT plays Germany in the semifinals! The U.S. men’s hoops team plays Brazil in the quarterfinals! Gold medalist Kristen Faulkner is in the cycling team pursuit, which starts today! More track and field finals! Follow all the day’s action.
- The latest medal count: Entering Tuesday, the U.S. held the lead in the medal count with 79 (21 golds, 30 silvers, 28 bronze) and was tied with China for most golds.
The power of a photo.
The medal podium for the women’s floor exercise final was all Black women – an Olympics first. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won gold, beating out Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles.
In a moving moment of reverence for Andrade and for the sport of gymnastics, Biles and Chiles bowed down to her during the medal ceremony, the Brazilian throwing her handles to the sky in celebration as the crowd cheered her name. The photo spread far and wide across social media, and it’s a powerful one with an important message. Simply put, the American duo wanted to show their respect to a competitor (and friend) – who has always done the same for them – in the biggest moment.
"Rebeca, she's so amazing, she's queen," Biles said. "Jordan was like, 'Should we bow to her?' And I was like, 'Absolutely.' It was just the right thing to do."
"Why don't we just give her her flowers? Not only has she given Simone her flowers, but a lot of us in the United States, our flowers as well," Chiles said. "So giving it back is what makes it so beautiful. So I felt like it was needed."
It is precisely this photo – this moment – that exemplifies Biles’ greatness, my colleague Nancy Armour wrote: Not many athletes – not many people – would be big enough to celebrate someone else’s success in the wake of their own disappointment. Or mature enough to do it so genuinely. And she continues to dole out lessons on how to do life: Be kind. Celebrate success, both yours and that of others. Take as much care of your mental health as you do your physical health. Never allow others to write your own story.
"I accomplished way more than my wildest dreams, not just at this Olympics, but in the sport. So I can't be mad at my performances," said Biles, who leaves the Paris Olympics with four medals, three of them gold. "A couple of years ago, I didn’t think I'd be back here at an Olympic Games. Competing and walking away with four medals, I’m not mad about it. I'm pretty proud of myself."
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Other highlights from yesterday.
- The balance beam final happened in total silence and it was “really weird and awkward,” Simone Biles said. I can confirm, it was really uncomfortable, the crowd even shushing Biles and Suni Lee as they cheered for each other. (Hi, Amanda, thanks for the story idea!) It was a brutal final, too, nearly every gymnast coming off the apparatus, including Biles and Lee.
- Why Jordan Chiles' score changed, giving her a bronze medal in the floor final.
- The judges gave Biles a 0.3 deduction on her beam routine for … not holding her salute long enough after her beam routine. So she held her salute after floor for a hilariously long time.
- In a first, the U.S. took silver in team skeet shooting.
- Former NBA player Chase Budinger's Olympic beach volleyball dream has ended. What about LA '28 at 40?
- Olympic sport climbers are facing vexing boulders as the competition got underway.