Simone Biles wins vault, claiming seventh Olympic gold medal

PARIS (AP) — Simone Biles won her seventh Olympic gold medal by winning the ladies’s vault final on the Paris Olympics on Saturday.

Biles, 27, averaged 15.300 on her signature Yurchenko Double Pike and Cheng Vault jumps to win her second gold within the event, eight years after winning in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, who finished second behind Biles within the all-around final on Thursday, won silver, ahead of American Jade Carey, who took bronze.

Biles is the second woman to win the vault twice, joining Vera Casalavska of Czechoslovakia as two-time gold medalists within the vault. Casalavska won in 1964 and 1968. Biles now has 10 Olympic medals in her profession, third most amongst gymnasts. She has also increased her medal count at major international competitions to 40, essentially the most amongst gymnasts.

The packed Bercy Arena crowd roared as Bile was inducted. Dressed in a sequined red leotard, she gave one other stunning performance in what could possibly be the last vaulting competition of her life.

She executed a double Yurchenko pike, exploding off the block after which tumbling backward twice, hands behind her knees. She landed with an enormous bounce — a nod to the energy she generates — together with her right foot on the out-of-bounds line.

The judges gave her a tenth of a degree for that. It didn’t really matter. Her rating of 15.700 meant she only needed to avoid disaster on her second dive to win. Instead, she nearly nailed her Cheng, which requires a lap on the springboard, then a half-turn on the block, followed by 1 1/2 activates a front flip.

Another 14.900 meant the remaining eight competitors were fighting for second place.

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Andrade, the Tokyo vault champion, delivered two excellent jumps to win silver and her third medal of the Games after silver within the all-around and bronze within the team final. Andrade’s average of 14.966 was clearly higher than everyone else.

Carey, who slipped within the vault final in Tokyo and finished eighth, won her third Olympic medal, adding to the freestyle gold she won in Tokyo and the team gold she shared with Biles on Tuesday.

Biles may have two more probabilities so as to add to her medal haul in Paris when she competes within the beam and freestyle finals on Monday.