By Joiner Martinez
03 Aug 2024, 18:27 PM EDT
American gymnast Simone Biles won her third gold medal of the Paris Games on Saturday by winning the vault final at the Bercy stadium.
Biles adds this gold to her wins in the team competition and the individual all-around competition.
Both of her jumps were awarded an average of 15.300 points by the judges.
The silver medal went to Brazilian Rebeca Andrade (14.966), who has only ever beaten Biles on this apparatus, at the 2023 world championships.
Bronze went to American Jade Carey with 14.466.
Biles: “My critics are very quiet”
Biles, who won her third gold medal at the Paris Games in the vault final on Saturday, said her critics were now “very quiet,” which she found “strange,” she added ironically.
“Negative comments are painful to a certain extent. They hurt, but I am still in therapy working on all that, to make sure that my mental health is okay,” she said after the competition.
“After all these years of mental work, it was worth it. I am super excited to be back on this stage,” added the American.
Biles, who faced merciless criticism for withdrawing during the Tokyo 2020 Games while suffering from a mental health crisis, said she was feeling great at the moment.
“I saw my therapist the other day. We’re going day by day to see if I need more therapy while I’m here, but so far everything is going well,” he said.
“The Olympics are a very tiring process for athletes and there are many days of competition, so you have to be aware of your mental and physical state. As long as we do that, we will be fine. And so far I feel fine,” she said at a press conference after the final.
“Once we are here, the track is our stage. We feel very free because we are in our element, we have fun, we do what we like,” he said.
Regarding Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, whom she beat again in this final, she praised “her great talent.”
“She is a very powerful gymnast and keeps me on my toes. I love competing with her. It is always an honor. It is a lot of fun,” he said.
Biles did not say that Paris would be her last Games.
“Never say never. The next Olympics are at home, so you never know. But I’m getting very old,” he said, laughing.
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