Simone Biles is probably bound for Olympic hardware, but on the first day of women’s gymnastics Olympic trials on Friday, she wasn’t perfect. Gymnasts who can nail their routines with the most consistency are most valued for Team USA, which will pick its women’s gymnasts to represent the country in the 2016 Rio Olympics after two days of trials.
Olympic trials 2016, women’s gymnastic results: Simone Biles leads after Day 1
Biles leads by a full point after Day 1 of 2 at the women’s gymnastics Olympic trials.
Friday was the first day of those trials. Biles, the favorite to win, does have a full point lead after the first day of trials, but she made mistakes on the uneven bars and botched a turn on the balance beam. 16-year-old Laurie Hernandez finished just behind Biles after the first day, with Aly Raisman coming in third. Raisman took home Olympic gold in 2012.
Gabby Douglas, another gold medalist, finished in seventh after Friday due to a fall in the balance beam. She will have a lot of ground to make up going into the final day of trials.
The women’s gymnastics trials will conclude on Sunday with another full day of events. All four events were run through on Friday and all four will be run through again on Sunday. The top all-around finisher will automatically qualify for Rio, but everybody else will have to be picked by the selection committee.
That committee will obviously heavily use the results from Friday and Sunday when making its decision. The goal is to have the most well-rounded team, not necessarily the five best gymnasts in all-around competition, as not every competitor has to enter every event at the Olympics.
The men’s gymnastics team was announced in late June at the conclusion of their own two-day trials, which followed the same format as the women. Sam Mikulak, Jake Dalton, John Orozco, Alex Naddour and Chris Brooks were named to the men’s team and will make the trip to Rio.
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