Reborn Biles leads the way as USA reassert their domination

In the total chaos of the team final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as the sky seemed to be falling and Simone Biles was forced to withdraw midcompetition, USA responded to the unexpected adversity with admirable resolve. They finished with a silver medal, a proud achievement, but one that left them even hungrier than before.

- Tumaini Carayol Bercy Arena

Every member of that team has faced significant challenges on the road back: combining college gymnastics with their elite ambitions, significant injuries, a serious kidney illness, multiple stalkers and unravelling the twisties.

Four of them - Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey remarkably found the strength and determination to make the team again. Three years on, they reasserted USA's dominance over women's gymnastics with an untouchable gold medal.

Their triumph was underlined by another superb performance from Biles on a night that could have brought flashbacks to her previous difficulties. In the Tokyo team final, Biles's vault attempt ended with her losing herself in the air and nearly seriously hurting herself before her withdrawal.

This time, Biles completed the superb Cheng vault, which set the tone for an error-free series of results.

Biles said she was relieved to feel no flashbacks: "At the beginning of the day, I started off with therapy and I told her I was feeling calm and ready and that's exactly what happened.