The beam final at the 2024 Paris Olympics left the gymnastics world stunned, with multiple uncharacteristic falls, including from both Team USA stars Simone Biles and Suni Lee.
But why was this year’s final such a disaster compared to years past?
Multiple gymnasts, including Biles, revealed why they thought this year felt “weird” and “awkward.”
Simone Biles explains why the gymnasts thought the beam final was awkward.
“Beam final is always the most stressful. But usually, we have like music or background noise, whatever that may be,” Biles told the media after the competition. “Honestly, we do better in environments when there’s noise going on because it feels most like practice. So today, you could hear some of the Android ringtones going off, the photo clickers, whatever that was.”
Biles, 27, went on to mention she could hear fans in the audience shushing during the competition, saying music would have helped mask the silence.
“You’re trying to stay in your zone, and then people start cheering, and then the shushing gets louder. So, really, they should be shushed because they’re louder than them…it was really weird and awkward, and we’ve asked several times if we could have some music or some background noise. So I am not really sure what happened there, but yeah, not our favorite. None of us liked it. Yeah, it was an odd beam final.”
Biles missed a spot on the podium when she slipped off the beam, resulting in a one-point deduction. Her 13.100 score placed her fifth when the event concluded, alongside U.S. teammate Lee, who also tumbled during her routine.
The all-time record holder in American gymnastic medals was denied another podium finish when slipped off the balance beam in event finals Monday in Paris.
Biles wasn’t the only gymnast to notice how quiet the arena was on Sunday. Lee also voiced her thoughts about the silence after the competition.
“It was too quiet. I could literally hear myself breathing,” Lee told reporters. “You could feel the tension in the room. I mean, the crowd shushing us for cheering. We did not like that, just because it’s just so silent in there. I love hearing my teammates cheer for me.”
After the event, she said she was “so sad” about her performance, but she still “gave it her all.”
Both Lee and Sione Biles did not medal in the event, which marked Lee’s last performance in Paris.
The two Americans were among several athletes to fall Monday, with even announcers questioning what happened and some joking there must be “butter on the beams.”
Alice D’Amato of Italy took the gold with a score of 14.366, Italy’s first gold medal in the gymnastics event. Zhou Yaqin of China earned silver with a 14.100, just ahead of bronze medalist Manila Esposito of Italy.
It was the first podium finish without an American in women’s gymnastics so far in Paris.
Biles finished with the same score as Lee, whose hopes for gold on the beam, ended in the middle of her routine when she fell during the end of her acro series, just like Biles did a few minutes later.