Simone Biles completed a near-perfect return to Olympic competition on Sunday despite an injury scare during qualifying competition.
The 27-year-old, who returned to a standing ovation, apparently injured herself during warm-up for the floor exercise, was examined by medical staff and required a bandage around her left leg and ankle.
For a moment there seemed to be concern about whether he would be able to perform his routine.
He then appeared to stretch his calf muscle by jogging up and down, but went on to perform a floor exercise of incredible complexity, earning an impressive score of 14.6.
Biles still looked subdued after leaving the track. She sat on the step leading to the performance area, instead of joining her teammates.
American Simone Biles made her first appearance at this summer’s Paris Olympics on Sunday
Biles was examined by a doctor after appearing to suffer a calf injury at the Bercy Arena
The four-time Olympic champion was also seen with a ribbon tied around her left ankle.
The tension as she prepared for floor was compounded by a disastrous conclusion to teammate Jade Carey’s arena floor routine.
Carey lost her balance and fell. Biles took a step up on her first tumbling step (one of her signature moves named after her) and took a step forward after the second.
But despite the 0.1 point deduction for jumping, it was a hugely impressive return to the Olympic track.
Biles was seen by doctors again before performing the vault — the exercise that led to her withdrawal from competition in Tokyo — and sat on the floor, apparently stretching her calf again, before competing.
Biles had previously injured her calf and was heard saying on the telecast: “As soon as I came out, I felt it,” she said. “It’s right there in my calf. Right where I had that damn tear.”
U.S. gymnastics coach Cecile Landi revealed that Biles’ injury scare was a flare-up of a strain she suffered before the Olympics, but declined to discuss the severity of the injury.
Biles, who walked carefully as she left the stadium at lunchtime Sunday, had been feeling better as Sunday’s competition progressed and had given no indication that she would not be able to continue competing in Paris, Landi said.
Biles performed an incredibly complex floor exercise and was rewarded with a score of 14.6.
Biles, the 27-year-old gymnastics icon, also competed on the uneven bars on Sunday.
She later performed the vault, which was the exercise that prompted her to withdraw from Tokyo.
Landi said: “She felt something in her calf. That’s all. She just had a little bit of pain in her calf. She felt it a little bit on the floor and we taped it up.” Asked if there had been any talk of Biles not continuing, Landi said: “It was never on her mind.”
The coach said the injury felt like a continuation of a strain she had felt during preparation for the Olympics. “A couple of weeks ago she felt it and then it stopped and today she felt a little bit better,” Landi said. “She felt better at the end of the competition today. In the bars routine she said she felt better.”
There were no concerns “at this time” about whether Biles would be able to continue competing and there had been no consideration of doing an easier routine on the vault, where she had to perform twice to reach the individual all-around final.
Asked if it was a minor injury, Landi said, “I don’t know. I’m not a doctor.” He then said he wouldn’t answer any more questions about Biles’ calf.
