After Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera (together with the United States women’s gymnastics team) won gold in the team final at the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 30, Jordan will not compete in the individual all-around on August 1.
Due to the two-athletes-per-country rule, Simone and Suni will represent the United States in the forthcoming all-around competition, even though the 23-year-old has the scores necessary to enter—placing fourth overall in the women’s qualification July 28.
Jordan advanced to the floor final on August 5.
For a long time, Team USA has been impacted by the two athlete rule. While Jordyn Wieber sat on the bench in 2012, Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas competed for the United States in the individual events. Aly and Simone, who had just joined the squad at the time, competed in the subsequent Rio Summer Olympics instead of Gabby.
Even though Jordan won’t be aiming for a medal at this tournament, she did a fantastic job helping the United States win gold at the team final in the bars, beam, vault, and floor events. Natalie Portman, Serena Williams, Michael Phelps, Nicole Kidman, and Jordan’s parents, Gina and Timothy Chiles, were among the many in the audience who gave her a standing ovation when she showed off her bars routine despite a fall on the beam.
True enough, her parents had the perfect words of encouragement ready for their daughter when she slipped off the balancing beam.
From her vantage point in the stands, Gina yelled out to her daughter, “It’s all right, don’t worry about it.” “Be diligent and finish the task.”
Team USA finished with a score of 171.296, five points better than Italy (165.494) and Brazil (164.497), respectively, to claim the gold medal.
Team USA has shown that they are not only competing at a high level, but also that they know how to have fun.
“I learnt that gymnastics isn’t necessarily about being overly critical of oneself and plagued by self-doubt,” Jordan stated in a 2021 interview with the New York Times. When I saw Simone compete, that’s when it hit me. Without showing any signs of fatigue or tension, she appears to be smiling and chuckling while out there. I thought, “You know, I’m going to give that a go someday and see what happens.”
Read on for a rundown of the team final’s most memorable moments.