Simone Biles secures third trip to the Olympics after winning in the US qualifiers

MINNEAPOLIS – Simone Biles is returning to the Olympics. As well as some of her friends.

The gymnastics superstar earned a third trip to her sport’s biggest stage when she cruised to victory in the U.S. Olympic trials on Sunday night, recording a two-day total of 117.225 to secure the only automatic spot on the five-woman team .

Three years after the Tokyo Olympics — where she withdrew from several finals to prioritize her safety and become a landmark in the importance of mental health in the process — Biles returns to the games looking perhaps better than ever, at age 27.

“Trusting the process and (my coaches), I knew I would come back,” Biles said.

Biles is not going alone.

Defending Olympic champion Sunisa Lee, 2020 Olympic floor exercise champion Jade Carey, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles and 16-year-old Hezly Rivera were named to the five-woman team on Sunday night. Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong are the substitutes.

A trip to France has never been in doubt for Biles since she returned from a two-year break last summer. All she has done in the last 12 months is win her sixth world title overall and her eighth and ninth national championships – both records – while further cementing her status as the best of all time in her sport.

Biles will be a prohibitive favorite to secure the Olympic gold she won in 2016, although there is plenty to work on ahead of the women’s qualification on July 28.

She stepped back after landing her Yurchenko double pike vault, a testament to the difficulty of the vault and the immense power she generates during a skill that few male gymnasts attempt and even fewer land so cleanly.

Biles jumped off the beam after failing to land her side aerial, although she wasn’t as frustrated as she was during a sloppy performance on Friday that left her uttering an expletive for all the world to see.

Biles finished with a flourish on the floor exercise, her signature event. Although there was a small step out of bounds, there was also an unparalleled world-class drop that recently attracted attention by pop star Taylor Swiftwhose song “Ready For It” opens Biles’ routine.

She stepped off the podium to a standing ovation, then sat at the top of the stairs to soak up the moment in what could be her last competitive round on American soil for quite some time.

Next stop, Paris, where the Americans are trying to get back to the top of the podium after finishing second behind Russia three years ago.

However, the Biles who will enter the Bercy Arena in four weeks is not the same one who left Tokyo.

She took intentional steps to ensure her life was no longer defined by her gymnastics. Biles married Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens in the spring of 2023 and the two are building a home in the northern suburbs of Houston where they hope to move soon after Biles returns from Paris.

Biles heads to France as perhaps the face of the U.S. Olympic movement, although she is well aware that more than a few of the millions who will tune in to watch next month will be checking to see if the demons that hampered her in Tokyo resurface.

And while there are still moments of anxiety – including at last year’s world championships – she has implemented safeguards to protect herself. She meets with a therapist weekly, even during competition season, something she didn’t do in preparation for the 2020 games.

Biles and the other four women who join her in France will be considered heavy favorites, especially with defending Olympic champion Russia unable to compete due to the fallout from the war in Ukraine.

The Americans will bring their longest-running women’s team to the games ever, as Biles’ unparalleled longevity – she hasn’t lost a competition that started and ended since 2013 – and the loosening of rules around name, image and likeness at the level of the NCAA have allowed Carey (24), Chiles (23) and Lee (21) to continue to compete while cashing in on their newfound fame at the same time.

They relied on that experience to get them back to this moment during a sometimes harrowing meeting that saw the top candidates Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely It is Kayla Di Cello They left with leg injuries that took them out of the mix weeks before the opening ceremonies.

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