Simone Biles stole the show with her awe-inspiring gymnastics floor routine on Friday, the first night of the Gymnastic US Olympic Team Trials in Minneapolis, Minnesota — and fans lapped it up. With two days of trials remaining for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Biles leads the field with a score of 58.900, with Jordan Chiles in second place at 56.400, and Suni Lee holding on to third with 56.025.
After her first event – the uneven bars – Biles was in second place. But it was her two favorite events of floor and vault that sent her points soaring to first place and the crowds screaming. For her second floor routine, Biles collaborated with French dancer, Gregory Milan, to choreograph her routine, according to NBC. In it, Biles landed a triple-double, also known as the “hardest tumbling pass in the entire world,” according to NBC Olympics announcers.
“Geesus!!! Everyone else in Paris will just be competing for the silver and bronze!” one person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Dude watching Simone Biles’ floor routine is like watching pure magic,” another added, while someone else gushed: “Nothing makes me feel more patriotic than Simone Biles doing a floor routine.”
“I cannot stop watching [her routine],” podcast host Josh Reynolds wrote. “One of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. Still cannot comprehend her flipping through the air like this. Simply amazing. She’s incredible.” Another fan filmed themselves trying the highly-decorated Olympian’s moves, posting a side-by-side video of him and Biles performing the routine, with the caption: “icon. legend. moment.”
The routine featured an instrumental version of “…Ready for It?” by Taylor Swift to the joy of Swift fans everywhere. “Song is clearly ‘ready for it?’ and we still weren’t,” someone praised the seven-time Olympic medalist. “Simone Biles starting her floor routine with Taylor Swift is everything,” one fan gushed on X, while another said, “A Simone Biles and Taylor Swift crossover just makes sense.”
Her Friday night performance positioned her for a strong run to qualify for the 2024 team the US plans to send to Paris to compete in this year’s Olympic Games. During each Olympics trial, the top-scoring gymnast automatically makes the team that the United States will send to Paris, with four more selected by a committee after the trials end.
Biles famously pulled out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, citing mental health reasons at the time, but her performance at the US Olympic trials signals that she’s back and better than ever.
Source: NBC, X (formerly known as Twitter)
