Simone Biles addressed her unexpected slip on the balance beam that cost her a medal at the Paris Olympics.
Cameras captured the 27-year-old gymnast visibly frustrated over the “shushing” of the crowd during the event on Monday, August 5.
After falling off the slim bar, she had to settle for fifth place in the balance beam final and lost her chance of adding another Olympic medal to her repertoire.
Highlights
- Simone Biles spoke about the unusual silence in the arena during the balance beam final, which she found "weird and awkward."
- She noted that the lack of music or background noise during the final made the environment feel weird, affecting her performance.
- Her U.S. teammate Suni Lee also found the silence in the arena unsettling.
- Despite finishing fifth in the balance beam final, 27-year-old Simone remains the most decorated American gymnast at the Olympics with 11 medals in total.
Simone Biles spoke about her unexpected slip during the balance beam final at the Paris Olympics
Image credits: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
She told reporters after the event that the unusual silence in the arena affected her.
"Beam final is always the most stressful. But usually, we have like music or background noise, whatever that may be," she said after the competition. "Honestly, we do better in environments when there's noise going on because it feels most like practice. So today, you could hear some of the Android ringtones going off, the photo clickers, whatever that was."
She called the final "odd" and described the environment as "weird and awkward."
The 27-year-old gymnast said the lack of music or background noise affected her in the "odd" final
"You're trying to stay in your zone, and then people start cheering, and then the shushing gets louder," she continued. "So, really, they should be shushed because they're louder than them...it was really weird and awkward, and we've asked several times if we could have some music or some background noise. So I am not really sure what happened there, but yeah, not our favorite. None of us liked it. Yeah, it was an odd beam final."
Simone’s U.S. teammate Suni Lee shared similar thoughts about the eerie silence.
"Even watching the other finals, I was like, 'It's a little too quiet in here,'" said the gymnast, who finished sixth in the same event. "When I was up there, I was like, 'People can probably hear me breathing.'"
"It adds to the stress, just because yes, you're the only one up there, but it just makes you feel like you're the only one up there. I was feeling the pressure," she continued.
After winning silver in the women's floor final, the gymnastics legend joked about not wanting to compete again with Brazilian gold-winner Rebeca Andrade
Despite Simone’s setback on Monday, her performance throughout the competition has been nothing short of stellar. She clinched gold medals in vault, all-around, and team events to become the proud bearer of the title "the most decorated American gymnast at the Olympics."
Following her rare slip at the balance beam final, the gymnastics legend also competed in the women's floor final on Monday for her last Olympic event in Paris.
She made it to the winner’s podium with a silver medal after the floor final, taking her total Olympic medal count to 11 (seven gold, two silver, and two bronze).
Being the most decorated American gymnast at the Olympics, Simone's collection has seven gold, two silver, and two bronze medals
"I'm not upset about my performance, I'm actually happy, proud and even more excited that it's over, the stress of it," the Olympic powerhouse said in a news conference. "I've 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.
"I'm pretty proud of myself and it's always so exciting to compete," she added.