AceShowbiz - It was an unexpected conclusion for the renowned American gymnasts Simone Biles and Suni Lee on Monday, August 5 during the balance beam final of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Both faced unforeseen mishaps, resulting in falls off the beam and putting them in 5th and 6th places. Italy's Alice D'Amato clinched the gold while her teammate Manila Esposito took bronze, and China's Yaqin Zhou earned silver.

Lee, who was the second competitor to perform, began her routine on a high note but stumbled on a landing, causing her to fall. She quickly regrouped and completed her routine with a score of 13.100.

Reflecting on her performance, Lee expressed, "I don't even know what happened in my series. I thought it was straight on and then all of a sudden I was on the ground." This marked another Olympic beam final where she couldn't deliver the routine she envisioned, having finished 5th in Tokyo 2020 as well.

Biles, the seventh of eight athletes to perform, also had a strong start but landed with too much power on one of her flips, resulting in a fall. After a long delay, she received the same score as Lee, a 13.100.

Despite the setback, Biles has remained steadfast in her approach, stating, "I don't keep count, I don't keep stats. I just go out here and do what I'm supposed to and I'm doing what I love and enjoying it, so that's really all that matters to me."

Both athletes went into the beam final with high expectations. Biles previously secured bronze in this event at both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games while Lee aimed to improve from her Tokyo performance. Unfortunately, the Paris finals didn't unfold as they hoped.

The fatigue of continuous competition seemed to play a role. Lee, who had won bronze in the uneven bars the day before, shared, "I was so tired today. I was telling everyone like, I don't know if I can do this beam final."

She emphasized the challenge of maintaining focus amidst the ongoing events, adding, "I felt like I hadn't done beam in a while just because I can't keep track of my days while I've been here. But the pressure was definitely on today."

Despite their individual disappointments on the beam, Biles and Lee have had successful stints in Paris overall. They, along with teammates Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera, won gold in the women's team final. Biles added to her legacy with gold in the women's all-around and vault finals, while Lee took bronze in the all-around and uneven bars.