The world watched, didn’t we? When Simone Biles came dangerously close to missing her chance of an all-around gold in Paris. The gymnastics GOAT faltered on what is supposedly her ‘weakest’ apparatus of the 4, which as though sent shockwaves all across the Bercy Arena. Truly, fans skipped a heartbeat and hoped that this would be her last mistake of the night.

It was after 8 long years that Simone Biles was getting this chance to reclaim her all-around title. Moreover, she’d vowed that this was her “redemption tour,” which meant the gymnastics veteran had to prove herself. And honestly, after rotation 1, she did look in great shape to do so. But you may reckon how intense and numbing the situation was, by what Simone’s coach Cecile Landi confessed right after Biles completed the next routine on the beam.

As shown in the recently aired docu-series, Simone Biles Rising Part 2, Simone began her fight with a strong vault routine, followed by her facing the uneven bars in rotation 2. That’s where things went wrong, as Biles rushed a bit too much on the bars, as a result of which, she had a bent knee while transitioning from the Pak Salto to the lower bar. And although she did not touch the ground and nailed the landing, she was given a rather low 13.733.

However, as she’s the doyenne of comebacks, Simone Biles rose gracefully from a potential dead end that evening. In the next rotation, the beam was supposed to be her make-or-break apparatus for her that day. But the minute she stuck her final landing after a beautiful routine, the arena erupted in cheers! And when Simone Biles stepped down and sipped water, Cecile Landi came to her and confessed, “Okay, that was hard. It was hard to do after that bar routine, so very good. I thought I was gonna vomit; I’m not gonna lie.”

The 14.466 on the beam was the score that had brought Simone Biles back into the game. Now, only a narrow margin separated her and Rebeca Andrade. In fact, it was so close that the GOAT confessed in the Netflix series, “I knew this could be Rebeca winning or this could be me winning….” And, gradually strengthening her position with each apparatus, she finished with a 59.131 to bag her second all-around gold in 8 years!

Cecile Landi’s verdict- Simone can celebrate regardless of the slip ups

The uneven bars mistake was not the end of Simone Biles’ Paris slip ups. Come the balance beam finals, the same apparatus that saved the day for her in the all-around finals, stripped her off a medal chance. She scored 13.100 after falling from the apparatus and finished fifth in the event. She also made errors on the floor, as a result of which which, she did medal but had to settle for a silver below Rebeca Andrade.

But Cecile Landi stood by Simone’s side no matter what. After she completed a four medal haul, Landi confessed, “There were two big mistakes on the second and final jumps (on the floor) and she lost 0.600 points which cost her the Olympic title.” However, Cecile added, “I think there’s a little disappointment but with a silver and three golds, we can return home proud.”

She even cleared the air saying that although Simone Biles wanted to give it her all, she was a little tired, as a result the control she normal has on her landings wasn’t the same. Truly, Cecile Landi understands Biles the best and go through a roller coaster of emotions while she is performing. What do you think of this? Let us know below!