Nail biting! A perfect phrase to define how the women’s gymnastics qualification round unfolded. Fans at Bercy arena cheered aloud when Simone Biles kicked things off with a show-stopping balance beam routine and scored 14.733. But she gave everyone a scare when she seemed to tweak her left ankle during floor exercise warmups. In the wake of this, she took a brief exit with Dr. Marcia Faustin, and when she returned, she took a seat on the sidelines.

Despite this injury scare, she came back with a bang, delivering a standout floor routine with a score of 14.600 and nailing her signature Yurchenko double pike with a 15.800.

Although it was only a qualifying round, the million-dollar question remains: is her injury serious? Well, Cecile Landi, Biles’s coach, weighed in to provide some clarity.

According to recent news shared by Gymnastics Now, Cecile Landi addressed Simone Biles’ apparent injury, noting that Biles reported “just a little pain in her calf,” which she felt on the floor and taped up. Landi mentioned that while Biles had been dealing with some issues a couple of weeks ago, she hadn’t experienced any new problems up until now.

It is uncertain whether it was her past injury or the floor that affected her performance. But, let’s not forget during podium training (Subdivision 1 Rotation 2) on July 24, “Both Brody Malone and Asher Hong mentioned how they have to adjust to the light-colored flooring here. Asher said it messes with his depth perception, so it’s taking some getting used to.” While it is highly likely, it’s still a speculation!

By the time Biles reached the bars, she began to feel better. Landi expressed, “Not concerned at the moment about her being able to compete Tuesday (women’s team final or beyond),” and there has been no discussion about altering her routine, such as doing one vault instead of two or watering down her performance.

She finished her routine with a minor slip on the uneven bars, where she wobbled slightly during a handstand. Despite this, she radiated joy as she waved and smiled at the U.S. crowd. Her overall performance was impressive. She achieved an all-around score of 59.566, the highest to date, and over three points ahead of her teammate Suni Lee.

While Biles appeared upbeat when asked about her condition, noting that she felt as good as possible, she chose not to elaborate further. Landi assured that there are no current concerns about her ability to compete throughout the Olympics, although not everything went perfectly, and there was still something she missed.

Simone Biles’ decision to play it safe

After arriving in Paris, when Simone Biles submitted a groundbreaking new skill, the “Weiler,” on the uneven bars to the International Gymnastics Federation, spectators were certain that the 7x Olympic medalist would perform the same during the qualification round. This pirouette involves a clear hip circle forward with one and a half turns, essentially a 540-degree pirouette, culminating in a handstand.

However, during today’s Olympic qualifying round, Biles chose to play it safe and skipped this innovative skill, opting instead for her reliable routine. She scored a solid 14.333.

Interestingly, following the scare, Simone crawled about 2/3rd of the way back down the runway, then hopped the rest of the way on her right leg because her left leg was taped, But she seemed to remain in good spirits as she was addressing the spectators present in the arena by waving at them and carrying a smile on her face.

As Cecile Landi now confirms that it was just a minor setback, Biles’ fandom looks forward to what unfolds next in her already impressive journey and if she gets to add ‘Weiler’ to her name.