For Italy and Brazil, Simone Biles' loss to the U.S. at the Olympics still feels like a victory
PARIS: Watching the celebrations after the women's Olympic gymnastics team final in Paris on Tuesday, it was hard to tell who was the winner.
The USA team led by Simone Biles? Brazilian star Rebecca Andrade and her teammates? Or the Italian team led by 17-year-old Manila Esposito?
Players from the three nations cheered loudly as the final score was shown on giant screens inside the Bersi Arena, as American fans began chanting “USA! USA!” Brazilians danced and waved blue, green and yellow flags, while Italians embraced warmly.
The Americans' total score of 171.296 made Biles the most gold-medal winning Olympic gymnast in U.S. history and her eighth gold medal.
But it is also a historic day for Italy and Brazil.
Italy's silver medal was their first at the event since 1928, while Brazil had never won a team medal before.
“We don’t know what it means yet,” Italian rider Alice D’Amato said when asked about her second-place finish.
The Brazilians were the last to leave the pitch, waiting under the stands and their teammates helped lift Andrade up to hug a fan standing over the railing.
“It’s amazing that we did it,” said Brazilian gymnast Jade Barbosa. “It’s amazing. Brazil is not that big in this sport. We have a lot of great gymnasts, but now we have a great group of great gymnasts.”
The Italian team finished with 165.494 points, better than Brazil's 164.497, after Angela Andreoli put on a strong performance on the court.
“I knew it was a very important event to get on the podium,” Andreoli said. “I was under pressure, but my teammates helped me calm down.”
Brazil's hopes of a podium finish were almost dashed before the race started when Flavia Saraiwa injured her right eye during warm-ups.
“I couldn’t see, I was bleeding, but the team doctor said everything was fine,” Saraiwa said. “I think I hit my knee in the eye when I tripped. This is not the first time this has happened to me. I might need stitches.”
Saraiwa wrapped a bandage over her eye and moved forward. She was careful to step on the beam and not fall on it, then did a simple floor exercise and ended the night with a powerful somersault.
“We are warriors,” Saraiwa said.
Her teammate Andrade excelled in the quad, showing off some great moves on the floor to go with a 15.100-second somersault. If she can replicate that in Thursday's all-around final, she could give Biles a gold medal.
