Simone Biles said her Olympic gold medal win in the all-around final on Thursday was the most stressful, because of the pressure from rival Rebeca Andrade.
After completing a far from perfect uneven bars routine, Biles looked nervous as Brazil’s Andrade nailed her routines in her bright yellow leotard, placing herself just 0.166 points behind Biles heading into the final apparatus.
Biles, 27, emerged victorious, but after receiving her sixth career Olympic gold, she told reporters she never wanted to compete with Andrade again.
“I don’t want to compete with Rebecca anymore. I’m tired,” Biles joked to reporters.
“It’s so close. I’ve never had an athlete that close, so it definitely put me on my toes and brought out the best in me.
Simone Biles said her Olympic gold medal win on Thursday was the most stressful yet
And Biles explained that it was all due to the pressure that Rebeca Andrade (left) put on her.
“I’m excited and proud to compete with her, but I feel uncomfortable, guys. I don’t like that feeling. I was stressed.”
Her American teammate and bronze medalist Sunisa Lee agreed, saying: “I swear I’ve never seen you so stressed!”
Andrade, for her part, said she was proud to have beaten Biles so closely.
Television cameras filmed her beaming as Biles held her final pose to all but complete her gold medal victory, knocking Andrade off her feet and taking the silver.
“I was very proud of her, it was amazing,” Andrade said. “I was very, very happy.”
“Also because I had a very good competition and I felt proud of myself. So it was a smile of joy for her, a smile of joy for me, because I did the best I could.”
But despite what Biles said on Thursday, the pair will face off again in Paris.
Both will compete in the vault, balance beam and floor finals on August 3 and 5.
