TOKYO — Simone Biles roared toward the vault; the United States women’s gymnastics team in need of one of her signature knockout performances if they were going to stake an early lead on Russia in the team competition here Tuesday.
Instead, Biles bailed out of her planned attempt — a Yurchenko with 2.5 twists. She instead delivered the far easier Yurchenko 1.5. Even then, she took a massive bounce/stumble upon landing.
As judges tallied a very un-Simone like score of 13.766 — a full 1.2 below her qualifying mark — Biles walked off the mat and looked to be near tears.