One of the largest storylines of the Olympics' final week actually stemmed from the first week of competition, as USA Gymnastics battles to retain the Olympic bronze medal won by Jordan Chiles in the individual floor final.
Chiles was awarded bronze after an inquiry from her coaches successfully challenged her original difficulty score, adding a crucial 0.1 to her tally to place her third over Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu.
How did Jordan Chiles lose her bronze medal?
After the final, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the initial inquiry — the one that resulted in the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) changing Chiles's score — was submitted four seconds after the one-minute deadline. The ruling dictated that Chiles's original score of 13.666 be reinstated, elevating Barbosu to third place and stripping Chiles of her bronze medal.
Truth be told, the move is a drastic measure usually reserved for doping or cheating allegations. It's incredibly rare to force an athlete to return an Olympic medal due to a scoring mistake.
USA Gymnastics submits evidence to refute Romanian appeal
USA Gymnastics is not backing down, stating on Sunday that they had submitted photo and video evidence proving that the team made the inquiry within the allotted time period.
"The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision and thus USAG did not have the opportunity to previously submit it," the Federation wrote.
"The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision."
While both athletes might be happy to share a bronze, USA Gymnastics is now engaged in an appeal battle with a number of governing nations to preserve Chiles's accomplishment.
"We remain dedicated to supporting her as an Olympic champion and will continue to work diligently to resolve this matter swiftly and fairly," concluded USAG.
USA Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles furthered her Olympics legacy on Thursday, taking gold in the individual all-around final for the second time in her storied career.
Brazil's Rebeca Andrade won her second-straight Olympic silver, while Biles's USA gymnastics teammate and Tokyo all-around gold medalist Suni Lee took bronze.
Lee is the first Olympic all-around gold medalist to medal in the same event twice in a row since since Romanian gymnastics icon Nadia Comaneci in 1980.
Biles makes triumphant comeback in Paris
Three years after the twisties threatened to end her career, Biles managed to put her Olympic stamp on what is likely the greatest women's gymnastics career of all time and a true comeback story for the ages.
Biles is the only US gymnast to win two Olympic individual all-around golds, as well as the first women's gymnast to take gold in two non-consecutive Olympic Games (2016, 2024).
She is now the most decorated US gymnast of all time with six gold medals, one silver, and two bronze — not to mention the opportunity to add to her haul in apparatus finals later this week.
USA Gymnastics finds a formidable competitor in Andrade
Biles has not lost an all-around competition she's competed in since 2013, but her friendly rivalry with Andrade dialed up the heat on Thursday.
Biles landed her signature Yurchenko Double Pike vault in her first rotation — the only woman able to do so — but her lead waned after a slipup on uneven bars. But with Andrade leading after two rotations, Biles hit clean routines on balance beam and floor, pulling back in front with a close 1.199 winning margin.
"I don't want to compete with Rebeca no more. I'm tired," Biles said with a laugh in her post-event press conference. "She's way too close. I've never had an athlete that close, so it definitely put me on my toes and it brought out the best athlete in myself."
Simone Biles and her US women's gymnastics team — dubbed the "Golden Girls" — took Olympic gold in Tuesday's team all-around final, leading after every rotation to finish a dominant 5.80 points ahead of second place.
With high difficultly levels and only one fall, the US's "redemption tour" passed its first major Olympic test of 2024, earning Team USA their third team gold over the last four Games.
Italy took silver, marking their first women's team medal in almost a century, while bronze medalists Brazil earned their first-ever medal in women's gymnastics.
Veterans fuel USA gymnastics' Olympic comeback
Though their Olympic pedigrees can't be denied, Biles, Suni Lee, and Jordan Chiles's collective comeback is now the stuff of legend.
Biles stuck her performances on all four apparatuses, putting to rest any doubts after a case of the twisties caused her to withdraw from the team and individual all-around in Tokyo. Meanwhile, reigning Olympic all-around champion Lee had to overcome rare kidney disease to make her Olympic return, putting in confident routines on three apparatuses in yesterday's final.
In her long-awaited triumph, Chiles earned her first Olympic gold after taking silver in the team event in Tokyo.
Consistency key to US gold medal
Team USA showed their depth despite losing key contributors to injury at last month's Trials, prioritizing stuck routines in an overall steady showing. Biles performed a less taxing Cheng vault as compared to her famed Yurchenko double pike on the team's first rotation, though the historic vault could make a return in the individual all-around competition.
Jordan Chiles suffered the team's only fall — during her mount on balance beam — but shined on floor in the team's last rotation.
Next, all eyes turn to Thursday's individual all-around final, where Biles, Lee, and Brazil's Rebeca Andrade are the gymnasts to watch in the quest for gold.