Simone Biles Grabs Gold, Aly Raisman Wins Silver

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 11 (UPI) — When a blind landing isn’t the hardest part of your performance, you know you are destined for greatness.

Simone Biles dominated the field once again Thursday in Rio de Janeiro, taking home her second gold medal in the women’s individual all-around final. The gymnast pulled out her signature move on the floor exercise. After running into her round-off, she exploded into a back handspring, then performed ‘The Biles.’ That move consists of a double layout with a half twist. Biles stuck her blind landing after pulling off ‘The Biles’ in front of the raucous Summer Games crowd.

The superstar American gymnast, regarded as the best in the world and arguably of all-time, showed off unparalleled athleticism on the beam, and made her vault performance appear effortless.

Team USA’s Aly Raisman placed second in the event while Russia’s Aliya Mustafina won the bronze medal. Biles scored a 62.198, Raisman scored 60.098, and Mustafina had 58.665 points in the event.

“I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps,” Biles said after the event. “I’m the first Simone Biles.”

Biles will still compete in vault, balance beam, and floor exercise finals in Rio, giving her a chance to leave with five gold medals.

“Every emotion hit me at once so I was just kind of a train wreck,” Biles told reporters after the event.

“Everything was going through my head but mainly it was like I had finally done it and when that hits you, you can’t really stop the emotions.”