- Twenty-four women set to compete for Olympic all-around title
- Biles’ twisties: mental block which puts gymnasts at serious risk
- Tweet Bryan at @BryanAGraham, email him or comment below
Andrade submitted an inquiry on her score. Her score is raised from 13.566 to 13.666, moving her into second ahead of Urazova and behind Lee.
And Derwael will get the final rotation started on floor.
It’s Lee, Urazona, Andrade and Melkinova in the top four, all within 0.5 points of each other.
A great save from Suni Lee when she nearly loses balance on her triple wolf turn. She fought the whole way through it, shines with the side aerial to two layout step outs. And it’s a 13.833 thanks to a lowered D score from taking out the second wolf turn and another wobbled toward the end of her set. Feels like a setback in a contest where every tenth counts.
Now it’s Andrade’s turn, last from the group on the beam. And she delivers a fantastic routine. If you were expecting her to flinch, it’s not yet happened. Waiting on the score … and it’s a 13.666.
A very clean beam routine by Urazova earns a 14.2 score. Gorgeous with no wobbles highlighted by the aerial-split-Onodi sequence. Melnikova follows with a solid set, save for a minor wobble on her mount, for 13.7. That feels low. The ROC pair shoot to the top of the leaderboard with Andrade and Lee still to come.
Jade Carey’s podium hopes appear to be dashed after coming off the beam on her second layout stepout. Score of 11.533. The American who took Biles’ place in today’s contest was sixth coming into the third rotation, but won’t be able to crack top three barring a complete disaster by the leaders.
Murakami, who was eighth after two rotations, delivers a solid Yurchenko double twist for 14.533 (perhaps a bit underscored).
Two rotations down and it’s Andrade, Lee, Melnikova, Urazova and Derwael at the top, in that order. All five are within 0.8 points of each other. High drama at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.
Team GB’s Jessica Gadirova comes off the beam on her layout but hit everything else. The score of 13.666 drops her to 18th.
Angelina Melnikova delivers a fantastic set on the uneven bars for a score of 14.9. And now it’s Suni Lee’s turn. This the harder version of her bars routine. And she hits! What a routine! All business as she hustles off the platform but cracks a momentary smile while slapping hands with Jade. This should be a big number … and it’s a 15.3! Better than Derwael, even.
That score puts Lee a scant 0.066 points behind Andrade. And the drama should only build from here.
USA’s Jade Carey, in second after the first rotation, scores 13.5 on a clean uneven bars routine after leaving out the Church-Gienger, down 0.6 from qualification. Her best event, the floor, is still to come. Derwael, the two-time world champion on bars, delivers on her favorite apparatus with a score of 15.266. That should lift her into the top three for now.
A very crisp routine from Urazova earns a 14.866, more than enough to keep her near the top.
Simone Biles is in the arena for the women’s all around final and cheering *loudly* for gymnasts during their routines.
Not just for US gymnasts, but others like Melanie de Jeusus dos Santos and Rebeca Andrade. She is the loudest person in the room.
Brooklyn Moors has submitted an inquiry on beam, but it was rejected and we’re on to the second rotation.
A rough night for France’s Melanie de Jesus dos Santos continues on the beam (12.166 after a big wobble on her mount and step back on the double back off) following a 13.833 on the bars. And more trouble for China as Tang Xijing falls on beam on her switch ring.
Andrade, Carey and Melnikova are the top three after the first rotation. Lu Yufei falls on bars and the 13.333 score is a major blow to her podium hopes.
Only 0.8 points separate the top five.
Other scores from the first rotation on vault: a 14.633 for Melnikova on a Yurchenko double twist with only a small hop back on the landing, 14.5 for Urazova and 13.9 for Derwael.
Elsewhere in the arena, a very nice bars routine by China’s Tang Xijing capped by a double layout earns a 14.233 score.
Suni Lee starts things off with a 14.6 on her opening double twisting Yurchenko vault. Clean in the air with only a tiny hop on the landing. That’s a very positive sign for the Minnesotan as the vault is not considered her strength.
But Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, in her first major international competition since suffering a serious knee injury in 2018, delivers a resounding statement of intent with an explosive Cheng that she lands for a 15.3 (and after a 0.1-point deduction).
The athletes have marched into the Ariake Gymnastics Centre and been introduced to the crowd. One-touch warm-ups are under way and the first rotation should be under way momentarily. It has been more than eight years since Biles entered an all-around competition and did not walk away the winner. Her absence today lends this final with a sense of the unknown that we haven’t felt in nearly a decade.
Speaking of Simone, she’s looking on from the stands rooting on her US teammates.
The question from BTL is: how many non-European/North American women have won all-around gold? The answer: none. The only athletes to win a women’s individual all-around medal of any color have come from the Soviet Union/Unified Team/Russia, Czechoslovakia, the United States, Romania, China, Hungary, East Germany and Ukraine.
Twenty minutes till start time. Here’s a more detailed look at the 24 women in today’s competition:
Twenty-four women have qualified for today’s all-around final. They will compete in groups of six following Olympic order on each of the four apparatuses: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor.
The first group of Lee (USA), Andrade (BRA), Carey (USA), Derwael (BEL), Urazova (ROC) and Melnikova (ROC) will begin on vault and end on floor.
Starting in 2006, scores were broken down into two parts. The difficulty (D) score is based on what a gymnast does during their routine. The harder the elements the athlete successfully strings together, the higher the total.
In theory, the D-score can be open-ended. Most elite routines carry a D-score between 5.4 and 6.0. Exceptional routines like what Biles does on floor or what Lee does on uneven bars score 6.5 or higher.
Hello and welcome to Ariake Gymnastics Centre for today’s women’s individual all-around final. For a long, long time up until less than 48 hours ago, today’s contest was thought to be a little more than a walkover. American megastar Simone Biles was the runaway favorite to become the oldest woman in more than five decades to win the Olympic all-around title, the sport’s most coveted prize, and the first repeat champion since Vera Caslavska did it for the former Czechoslovakia in 1968. And with good reason! The incandescent Biles has walked away with the overall title in every major international competition she’s entered since 2013, often winning by margins that are unusually large for gymnastics.
Then came Tuesday’s women’s team all-around, when the 19-time world champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist removed herself from the contest following one rotation citing her mental health and the intense pressure she’s faced. The next day, Biles withdrew from today’s individual all-around, though she’s left the door open to compete in the four apparatus finals she’s qualified for next week.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime, here is a look at the start list for today’s all-around final.
Start list for today’s Olympic women’s individual all-around final (6:50am ET). The first group of Lee (USA), Andrade (BRA), Carey (USA), Derwael (BEL), Urazova (ROC) and Melnikova (ROC) will begin on vault and end on floor. pic.twitter.com/v0u9WfUc43
