Simone Biles comes back to win bronze in balance beam final at the Olympics

Superstar gymnast Simone Biles, who withdrew from most of the events on her Olympic schedule after experiencing a lack of awareness in the air that jeopardized her safety, made a remarkable return to the gym floor on Tuesday and won a bronze medal in the balance beam final on the last day of competition at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.

Biles joined teammate Suni Lee in the balance beam final and performed a routine that scored 14.000 points. Before that, Biles had last competed in the women’s team final on July 27. In that event she performed one unsteady vault and then scratched from her other events that evening, later explaining her problem as a bout with “the twisties,” which afflicts gymnasts and throws off their timing and spatial awareness. The other U.S. women stepped up to win a silver medal.

Lee, who later won gold in the all-around event and bronze on the uneven bars, had a major wobble on the beam and scored 13.866 to finish fifth in Tuesday’s event. Guan Chenchen of China (14.633) won gold, followed by Tang Xijing of China (14.233) and Biles.

Based on her scores in qualifying, Biles had earned spots in the all-around competition and all four event finals in addition to leading the team event. However, she withdrew from the finals in floor exercise, vault, and the uneven bars. She will leave Tokyo with two medals: silver from the team event and bronze in the balance beam final.

Biles won five medals at the 2016 Rio Games, winning admirers globally for her daring skills and powerful tumbling. She has had four moves named after her, a tribute to her innovation and ability. She has won 25 medals at the world gymnastics championships, the most won by any man or woman.

Biles, 24, has said she might continue in elite gymnastics with the idea of becoming an event specialist in the 2024 Paris Games because her coaches, Cecile and Laurent Landi, are from France. While that remains uncertain, her short-term future includes performing in a series of exhibitions that will be called the Gold Over America Tour and will be staged in arenas around the U.S.

Before the women’s balance beam event on Tuesday, three-time Olympian Sam Mikulak of Newport Coast finished sixth in the men’s parallel bars event final, likely his last competitive appearance because he has said he plans to retire from gymnastics after these Games. Mikulak never won an Olympic medal, but his willingness to discuss his mental health issues and urge others to safeguard their own well-being helped make a once-taboo topic an easier discussion.

“I’m at peace, and I’m happy,” Mikulak said. “I feel right where I need to be, mentally and physically.”

Zou Jingyuan of China won the men’s parallel bars gold medal with a score of 16.233, followed by Lukas Dauser of Germany (15.700) and Ferhat Arican of Turkey (15.633).

U.S. national and Olympic trials champion Brody Malone was in the eight-man field for the last event, the men’s horizontal bars final.