The US Women's gymnastics team settled for silver on Tuesday after having to compete without golden girl Simone Biles, who USA Gymnastics confirmed had to exit the competition "due to a medical issue." It continued, "She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future competitions." Russia took gold, besting the US by 3.432 points, a gap the New York Times reports wasn't due to just one mistake but a combination of Biles' absence after her poor performance on the vault and Jordan Chiles' fall on floor. In Biles' first rotation on the vault on Tuesday, ESPN reports a gasp was heard as the gymnastics powerhouse struggled to stick her landing. The Times reports she had been slated to do a Yurchenko vault with 2½ twists but instead carried out only 1½ twists, ending up with an uncharacteristically low score of 13.766.
She was then seen talking to a trainer as she exited the floor. The AP reports she returned and hugged teammates Grace McCallum, Sunisa Lee, and Chiles. Chiles took Biles' spot in the second rotation on the uneven bars. NBC News reports the development comes after Biles became the first woman in nearly 30 years to secure a spot in all six possible Olympic finals: team, individual all-around final, and vault, floor, beam, and uneven bars events. It notes that "though she led the all-around ranks, Biles was uncharacteristically shaky and nearly missing out on beam final entirely." As for Tuesday's vault, the Times calls it "incredibly out of the ordinary for her." The bronze went to Britain. It's the first time since 2010 the US women's team hasn't come in first in the Olympics or world championships. (More Simone Biles stories.)
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