Artistic gymnastics: Medal winners react after women’s all-around

Artistic Gymnastics

Artistic gymnastics: What Biles, Andrade, and Lee had to say after all-around final

Okay, let’s bring you some reaction from the incredible women’s all-around final earlier this evening in which we saw Simone Biles reclaim her Olympic all-around title from Sunisa Lee, her teammate.

"It was an unfortunate mistake, but I knew to just keep pushing and to not give up," she said of her error on uneven bars. "And that’s exactly what you saw out there. 

"I think Rebeca (Andrade) pushes me to be my best as well. She’s a phenomenal athlete and gymnast. So I’m excited that she was there to push me.

"It’s been eight years (since Rio). It feels amazing. I was a little bit naive in the process. So I appreciate my craft a little bit more."

And what about her GOAT necklace, signifying her unquestionable position as the greatest artistic gymnastics medallist ever?

"A lot of people love it. They always call me the GOAT, so I thought it would be really special if I got one made. 

"The haters hate it, but I like that even more. It’s just a special part of me that I have here. 

"In the Village I have a stuffed goat. Just to get a reminder. Like ‘You can go out there, you can do it. You’ve done it before. So let’s go."

For her part, silver medallist Andrade of Brazil said: "Knowing that I gave Simone a bit of work is cool, right? She’s the best in the world, Simone is a phenomenon.

"We didn’t see it just here, but also in many competitions that she has done. I’m so proud of being able to compete by her side."

And she admitted it could be the last time she competes in the all-around.

"Doing the all-around, to me, it demands a lot from my body, my lower limbs, legs, knees… But I said that the future belongs to God, what if I something comes up in my head, my body gets better, I don’t know. But I have worked this in my head and I wanted tonight to be a very special competition because, to me, that was my last all-around.

"But who knows…?"

And Lee, who has had to battle back from illness to make the Olympic Games, said: "I’m so happy right now. I feel like everything that I’ve done has paid off. I mean, literally, six months ago I didn’t even consider I would be here competing today. That was an achievement in itself.

"Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to be on the podium. To just be here has been absolutely amazing. And I don’t know if you guys could tell, but I definitely got a little emotional after my floor routine. Just seeing the score come up was just insane."