Simone Biles leads Team USA gymnastics to gold at 2024 Paris Olympics

Simone Biles led the U.S. women’s gymnastics team to a gold medal on Tuesday at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Italy came in second and Brazil in third.

The U.S. women’s gymnastics team grabbed an American flag and jumped up and down posing for the fans after winning the gold in the team final.

They rushed onto the floor and couldn’t contain their excitement as they moved to various points on the podium to give fans a chance to see them.

The Americans won by nearly six points over Italy — an emphatic blowout. The Americans were heavily favored to win gold after finishing runner-up to Russia in 2021.

The U.S. won the qualifying round by a commanding 5.435 points. Three gymnasts compete in each event for every team and all three scores count in the team final. 

Simone Biles, USA win gold

Biles is the most decorated gymnast of all time and returned to the top of podium after pulling out of the team final in Tokyo three years ago to focus on her mental health. 

Biles tweaked her left calf during qualifying on Sunday but entered all four events in the team final.

Sunisa Lee was the reigning Olympic all-around champion. Her return to this stage seemed uncertain at times over the last 18 months while she battled kidney issues that made her weight fluctuate and slowed her training. 

Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Carey also competed for Team USA.

Team USA starts on vault, Biles passes on signature move

Biles and the Americans started on the vault totaling 44.100 points. China was in second place, ahead of Italy.

Biles, 27, passed on her signature Yurchenko double pike vault, opting for a Cheng vault instead. She drilled it in and earned a 14.900, a stark difference from three years ago when a wonky opening vault caused her to pull out of the team competition to protect herself.

Biles and her U.S. teammates took the lead in the team final after the first rotation.

USA gives strong performance on uneven bars

Following vault, team USA moved on to compete on the uneven bars. 

Chiles raised her arms and screamed "Let’s Go!" after a strong show on bars. The American is demonstrative and couldn’t hide her enthusiasm after scoring a 14.366.

Biles also had a wide grin following her routine on the uneven bars. Michael Phelps stood and applauded her, his own arms raised high as he clapped for America’s star gymnast. 

Lee rebounded after falling off the uneven bars in warmup to complete her routine. She smiled a sigh of relief, even though her feet brushed the mat on one of her rotations. Her score of 14.566 was best among the U.S. women.

Following uneven bars, Biles and her teammates had a 3.102-point lead over second-place Italy heading into their beam routine, with China in third place.

Jordan Chiles falls off balance beam, USA keeps strong lead

During beam, Chiles fell off the balance beam on her mount but got back on and completed the rest of her routine. Chiles’ score of 12.733 was a big disappointment, but the Americans built a strong lead through two rotations that the judges said they could afford a mistake or two and still win gold.

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Lee jumped up and down after her turn on the balance beam, scoring a 14.600 — matching the best of the night — to keep the Americans on track for gold. Lee pumped her arm in the air after score was shown.

Despite a moment when Biles became shaky to keep herself on the beam, she scored a 14.366, and the U.S. headed into the floor exercise with a commanding lead.

USA performs on floor, eyeing gold

Lee closed out her night at the women’s team final with a 13.533 on the floor, with Chiles and Biles still to go and secure gold for the Americans. Lee seemed relieved as she returned to the floor and began cutting tape off her ankles.

Chiles visibly started to cry as her floor exercise ended. Chiles scored 13.966 with only Biles left to go.

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Biles raised a No. 1 in the air after blowing kisses to the crowd following her final routine of the night -- a 14.666 on the floor exercise that closed out the U.S. women’s team gold medal in the team final.

Biles stepped out of bounds once on the routine but smiled — because she knew it didn’t matter for the U.S. The crowd thundered with chants of "USA! USA!" as Biles was embraced by her teammates.

Serena Williams, Nicole Kidman attended Simone Biles' attempt at Olympic gold

A-listers including Nicole Kidman and Serena Williams gathered at the Olympic gymnastics venue Tuesday to watch Biles during the team final.

Williams has been in Paris for a few days and carried the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony last week. She sat next to Paris Games chief Tony Estanguet.

Kidman and her husband, Keith Urban, were there with their two daughters. When asked if she was looking forward to the competition, Kidman said: "So excited! So excited!"

Spike Lee was also seen watching Biles at the Olympics. The movie director has a front-row sea, above the vault runaway, wearing white-framed glasses and a USA basketball shirt.

Lady Gaga, Tom Cruise and Jessica Chastain attended Biles’ return to the Olympics when she competed in qualifying Sunday.

This story was reported from Los Angeles. The Associated Press contributed.