Biles finished atop the leaderboard in the all-around competition Sunday with a score of 59.566 after placing first in the vault and floor exercise and second in the balance beam.
Her performance qualifies her for the all-around final, as well as three individual competitions, leaving Biles poised to add to her stunning hardware collection of seven Olympic medals.
The 27-year-old’s highly anticipated appearance Sunday morning at Bercy Arena delivered its share of anxious moments to go along with spectacular flips and spins.
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She met with a trainer and briefly left the competition floor before returning with her lower leg tightly wrapped.
While she continued to favor the leg between events, the injury had little impact on her performance. Biles went on to complete the floor exercise, earning a score of 14.6 on the strength of her graceful choreography and athletic tumbling passes, including a sensational triple twist.
She next moved onto the vault, where she landed her signature Yurchenko double pike, also known as the “Biles II” move.
The vault held special significance for Biles-watchers, as it was during that event in the team final in Tokyo that she became disoriented in mid-air — a kind of mental block known to gymnasts as “the twisties.”
Biles recently described the twisties as the feeling that “your mind and your body [are] at a disconnect.”
She withdrew from most of the remaining events in Tokyo with her future in competitive gymnastics in doubt. After therapy sessions and two years off from the sport, Biles began practicing and regained her form, winning her sixth all-around title at the world championships in Belgium last fall.
On Sunday, Biles finished the day off on the uneven bars, punching her ticket to the all-around competition on Thursday.
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