Podium Photo Is a Classic

Simone Biles may not have clinched gold in her signature event Monday, but she helped deliver a “display of sportsmanship” and another “enduring image” of the Paris Games, CNN reports. Taking the podium after the floor exercise finals, the silver medalist joined her friend and teammate, bronze medalist Jordan Chiles, in bowing down to the gold medalist, Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who raised her arms in celebration. It was an iconic moment, putting extra emphasis on the first ever all-Black Olympics gymnastics podium.

“That was super exciting for us,” Biles later said of the all-Black podium. “Then Jordan was like, ‘Should we bow to her?’ And I was like, ‘Absolutely.'” “She’s an icon, a legend herself,” Chiles said of Andrade. “I feel like being recognized is what everybody should do when it comes to somebody who’s put in the work, put in the dedication.” But Andrade had also shown up to support other US competitors, Chiles said. “So I felt like it was needed,” added Chiles. “Giving it back is what makes it so beautiful.”

The moment drew praise on social media. Paris’ Louvre museum even suggested the photo should hang on its walls. Though it was “the first time in her career that Biles did not win the floor exercise at a major competition,” per the AP, she clearly felt no ill will. Honoring the Brazilian “was just the right thing to do,” Biles said, per USA Today. She “put me on my toes, and it brought out the best athlete in myself.” But “I don’t want to compete with Rebeca no more,” Biles joked. “I’m tired!” The “greatest gymnast of her generation” should be tired, per the AP. She leaves Paris with three golds in addition to the silver medal, bringing her Olympic total to 11. (More 2024 Paris Olympics stories.)