“Judging Extremely Harsh”: Simone Biles’ Fans Upset Over Score Deduction at US Gymnastics Olympic Trials 2024

US Olympic Trials, 2024 – Simone Biles was ‘Ready for it‘ when she flawlessly started her opening pass to the beat of Taylor Swift’s Reputation during her floor routine. She then brought the near-capacity crowd of the Target Center, Minneapolis, to its feet when she performed the triple-twisting double back and earned an impressive score of 14.850. But, wait! – there is more. After rotation 3, loud cheers erupted in the arena as the gymnast closed out the night in style with her gravity-defying Biles II routine on the vault (rotation 4), and added a score of 15.975 to the leaderboard. However, while the 7x Olympic medalist aced floor and vault routines, the first two rotations did not go as she planned.

After finishing second in rotation 1 (uneven bars – 14.425), Biles went on to perform her rotation 2 on the balance beam. She started with a wobble and ended with a hop on the dismount. This resulted in a score of 13.650 (Difficulty score of 6.200 and Execution score of 7.450), which was less than her two beam routines at nationals. This made her “so upset about beam.” Hence, when she landed off the rotation 2 apparatus, she mouthed “f**k” in frustration.

“I’m really disappointed in myself because that’s not how I train. And so going forward, I’m going to try to compete how I train on that event. Because I know I’m good at it. I know I can do better. So that’s what I’m going to work on,” stated Biles following her second-place finish in rotation 2. 

However, this did not stop her from taking the first-place lead in the next two rotations. She restored order and concluded the first day of women’s competition at the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials with an All-Around score of 58.900. Following this, though the gymnast’s fandom expressed their elation about her winning feat, many seemed upset about Biles’ floor (rotation 3) execution scores.

For each Olympic gymnastics event, nine judges are responsible for the scoring. Two judges of the D-panel determine the Difficulty Score. The score starts from zero and has no upper limit. It takes into account the difficulty of the most difficult skills in the routine. For women, the eight most difficult skills are counted.

On the other hand, six judges on the E-panel record the Execution Score. This starts at 10.0 and deductions are made for different errors. Execution and artistry of a routine are taken into consideration for this. Points are deducted for falls, errors in technique, and execution. Also, there are scopes for neutral deductions for stepping out of bounds, violating time requirements, and attire or podium violations.

So, Final Score = [Difficulty + Execution] – Any neutral deductions

In Simone’s floor routine, while both the judges in the D-panel marked 6.900 as a difficulty score, the execution score saw a marking of 8.050 out of 10. Along with this, she received a penalty marking (neutral deduction) of -0.100. The 1.95 point deduction did not sit well with the fans, as they expressed their disagreement with the rotation 3 scoring.

Not a perfect 10? Simone Biles’ fans question her floor routine score

After the gymnast ended her rotation 3 with Beyonce’s ‘Delresto’, the fans were expecting Biles to get a perfect 10 on her execution. When that did not happen, a fan, in disagreement with the score, mentioned, “I’m suing for emotional distress if the judges don’t post where they found 1.9 points off.” Sharing the same sentiment, another user replied, “no they’re judging extremely harsh tn.”

Some even claimed that Biles “stepped out of the bounds” when she was performing floor exercises. However, the deductions in E-panel scores are based on several errors, and as per the code of points, ‘artistry’ is among those reasons. However, this parameter can vary from judge to juege. Hence, some users even claimed, “artistry deductions can takeover a full point easily with new code.”

However, while some fans were upset about her floor exercise score deduction, others expressed their regard for Biles as she performed a dazzling floor routine on a Taylor Swift x Beyonce mix. “THE TRIPLE DOUBLE WAS UNBELIVEVABLE,” penned a fan. 

Following this, in the final rotation, her Yurchenko Double Pike (Biles II) was in its full glory. Talking about the routine, Biles added, “I’m just happy that I still had a little bit more adrenaline and energy that I wanted to but I could still successfully land it.” She finished the routine with a score of 15.975, with a hoard of fans present at the Target Center giving her a standing ovation.

Among her supporters present at the arena, the loudest praises were coming from Simone Biles’ family. While Ron Biles and Jonathan Owens stood up in elation, Sammi Biles lifted little Ronni Biles in her arms and cheered for the gymnast. On the other hand, Simone Biles’ mom, Nellie Biles, clapped from the stands, watching her daughter pass with flying colors.

Nevertheless, as Simone Biles concluded the women’s first day of gymnastics trials, she addressed how she managed to find the silver lining on rather a stressful day. “You know it’s one of the best pressure situations to be in going into the Olympics.” And, as she topped the charts with the All-around score of 58.900, she is certain that, “if we can do this, we can do anything.” With this, the 7x Olympic medalist inched one step closer to her Paris Olympics dream.