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Some of the biggest news of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games broke at 4:30 a.m. on the east coast, as early Monday morning on the east coast as USA Gymnastics announced superstar Simone Biles will return for the balance beam event finals on Tuesday night.
We are so excited to confirm that you will see two U.S. athletes in the balance beam final tomorrow - Suni Lee AND Simone Biles!! Can’t wait to watch you both!
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) August 2, 2021
It’s the last women’s gymnastics event of the Games, and will take place Tuesday, August 3rd at 4:50 a.m. ET in Tokyo. Biles had the eighth-best score in qualifying, but the two-gymnasts-per-country rule means she’ll be the seventh-ranked gymnast in the balance beam final.
Biles score of 14.066 was well below her normal standard in qualifying, with the leader being Chenchen Guan at 14.933. Guan finished a full .600 over every other gymnast, and her teammate Xijing Tang at 14.333 was second. Team USA’s Suni Lee, the all-around Olympic gold medalist, was third with a 14.200.
What was an event that many Americans would likely check the scores of in the morning now becomes one of the most anticipated moments of the Tokyo Olympics. The world will be watching to see if Biles can beat back “the twisties” and capture her fifth career gold medal.
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