Simone Biles: The queen of Rio
For the past three years, she's won every all-around competition she’s entered.
Ever heard of Nadia Elena Comăneci? Well, every single time I found myself watching a women gymnastic event at any of the Olympics, I have unfailingly been reminded of her by my dad who was a huge fan of this Romanian athlete who along with her five gold medal haul was the first one to be awarded a perfect score of 10 at an Olympiad.
Guess what? We have got a Nadia Comăneci for our generation now!
Remember Usain Bolt, well he is so last Olympics now. We have got a new poster athlete for these games and it’s a woman – let’s just pretend that the timeless Michael Phelps does not exist at all.
Not just gymnastics, standing at four feet nine inches tall, American Simone Biles is arguably destined to be one of the greatest ‘Olympian’ ever in the history of the quadrennial event.
The pocket rocket from Columbus, Ohio, produced a stunning performance to win the women’s all-around event in Rio. This was her second Olympic medal following her dominating performance to win gold for team USA in women’s team all-around.
She landed the best vault, beam and floor routines, leading the US quintuple to win by a huge margin of more than eight points. It was the largest margin of victory since the “Perfect 10” scoring system was replaced by the current open-ended scoring method in 2006.
Today’s Olympic scoring system is hugely different, as gymnasts now start with a maximum number of points based on the difficulty of their routines, then face deductions from an execution score based on any mistakes the judges find in their performances. The final score for each apparatus is the sum of the execution and difficulty scores.
Biles is already the most successful woman in the history of the world championships with 10 gold medals in the last three years and with a possibility of total five at Olympics ’16 she is already on her way to sporting immortality. But current-gender biasness aside, is Simone actually better than Nadia?
So while the American acrobat might not be able to match the Romanian superstar’s perfect 10 (largely owing to the reformed scoring system) she is definitely at par with her as far as performance is concerned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkLBWy1t2yk
While Comăneci dazzled with her graceful movements in Montreal, it’s the power Biles brings to the sport that’s been driving the crowds crazy in Rio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWeecKjJb6s
Biles’s signature event is the floor routine, a supreme display of her strength and stamina. But what makes the pocked sized dynamo a-once-in-a-lifetime gymnast is that she’s not just superior on the floor, her acrobatic prowess on the balance beam and the vault is also matchless.
But what’s most impressive about Biles is the fact that for the past three years, she’s consistently lived up to her hype. She’s gone out and won every all-around competition she’s entered.
Simone Biles is one of the greatest athletes this world will ever see. If you have not seen her already you should be thankful you have got a few more chances to see that greatness in action later this week.
The best of things truly come in the smallest of packages.
Guess what? We have got a Nadia Comăneci for our generation now!
Remember Usain Bolt, well he is so last Olympics now. We have got a new poster athlete for these games and it’s a woman – let’s just pretend that the timeless Michael Phelps does not exist at all.
Not just gymnastics, standing at four feet nine inches tall, American Simone Biles is arguably destined to be one of the greatest ‘Olympian’ ever in the history of the quadrennial event.
The pocket rocket from Columbus, Ohio, produced a stunning performance to win the women’s all-around event in Rio. This was her second Olympic medal following her dominating performance to win gold for team USA in women’s team all-around.
She landed the best vault, beam and floor routines, leading the US quintuple to win by a huge margin of more than eight points. It was the largest margin of victory since the “Perfect 10” scoring system was replaced by the current open-ended scoring method in 2006.
Today’s Olympic scoring system is hugely different, as gymnasts now start with a maximum number of points based on the difficulty of their routines, then face deductions from an execution score based on any mistakes the judges find in their performances. The final score for each apparatus is the sum of the execution and difficulty scores.
Biles is already the most successful woman in the history of the world championships with 10 gold medals in the last three years and with a possibility of total five at Olympics ’16 she is already on her way to sporting immortality. But current-gender biasness aside, is Simone actually better than Nadia?
So while the American acrobat might not be able to match the Romanian superstar’s perfect 10 (largely owing to the reformed scoring system) she is definitely at par with her as far as performance is concerned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkLBWy1t2yk
While Comăneci dazzled with her graceful movements in Montreal, it’s the power Biles brings to the sport that’s been driving the crowds crazy in Rio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWeecKjJb6s
Biles’s signature event is the floor routine, a supreme display of her strength and stamina. But what makes the pocked sized dynamo a-once-in-a-lifetime gymnast is that she’s not just superior on the floor, her acrobatic prowess on the balance beam and the vault is also matchless.
But what’s most impressive about Biles is the fact that for the past three years, she’s consistently lived up to her hype. She’s gone out and won every all-around competition she’s entered.
Simone Biles is one of the greatest athletes this world will ever see. If you have not seen her already you should be thankful you have got a few more chances to see that greatness in action later this week.
The best of things truly come in the smallest of packages.