There was much heartache for Team South Africa yesterday at the Paris Games as Candice Lill and Caitlin Rooskrantz’s Olympics suffered disappointing results, while Paris welcomed the return of gymnastic superstar Simone Biles.
Lill finished a distant 20th in the mountain bike cross country women’s race after her rear wheel shattered during the event. Lill was well-placed for a decent performance but disaster struck on the second lap.
The 32-year-old Olympian refused to give up, however, running to the tech zone to replace the wheel and complete the race. She finished over four minutes behind home favourite Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of France.
“My strategy was just to take the start as it comes and just stay patient and try and get as far forward as I could,” said Lill, as reported by TimesLive.
“And I think I was in a really good position to do so, maybe a few places further back than I would have wanted.
“And I was feeling good, moving up and then obviously the wheel thing happened … I came down one of the roll-downs on the course and as I hit the bottom, my back wheel just blew to pieces.”
Rooskrantz, meanwhile, was forced to withdraw from women’s all-round competition on crutches yesterday after injuring her foot after the vault. Before her mishap, she had scored 13.733 on the uneven bars in the first rotation, followed by 11.333 on the uneven bars in the second rotation, and 10.866 on the floor exercise.
Elsewhere, Olympic debutant Boipelo Awuah placed 18th in qualifying of the women’s street skateboarding, failing to progress to the final, while Alexander Peternell placed 51st in the equestrian field. Earlier yesterday, Harry Saner lost 15-9 to Kazakhstan's Vadim Sharlaimov in the round of 64 epee in fencing.
There was some good news for Team SA. Former gold medallist John Smith and debutant Christopher Baxter finished second in their men’s coxless pairs heat in a time of 6:36.71. They will contest the semi-final on Wednesday.
Biles made a stunning return, powering through left calf pain to get her multiple medal bid off to a rousing start. The US superstar, aiming to add to the four gold medals she won in Rio in 2016, tweaked her left calf warming up for her second apparatus, the floor exercise.
It didn’t stop her from soaring through her signature Yurchenko double pike vault – now known as the Biles II – which, even with a big step back on landing. earned a 9.4 for execution for a massive total of 15.800 points.
She had another step back landing her second vault, but laughed as she crawled back towards her teammates on her hands and knees. That was all it took for Biles’ coach Cecile Landi to know that for Biles “it’s on. It’s okay.”
Landi, who said Biles aggravated a minor injury she’d first dealt with a couple of weeks ago, said there was never any doubt Biles would continue.
“Never in her mind,” Landi said, adding that she was also confident that Biles would be ready to go for the team final tomorrow and the individual events to follow.
Biles topped the all-around standings with 59.566 points.
“Pretty amazing, 59.5” was Landi’s assessment of Biles’ performance in front of a star-studded crowd at Bercy Arena, where celebrity fans included Hollywood A-listers Tom Cruise, Jessica Chastain and Greta Gerwig, pop star Ariana Grande and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
She crushed every element in her opening balance beam routine, roaring through her aerial skills and spins without a wobble.
It was then she appeared to hurt herself warming up for the floor exercise, but after having her left leg taped from calf to foot Biles delivered a dynamic floor routine that featured both her Biles I double layout with half a twist and her Biles II “triple-double” of two back flips with three twists.
“It’s incredible,” US team technical lead Chellsie Memmel said. “What she was able to do looking like she has soreness or something in her leg is remarkable.”
Landi said Biles was already feeling better by the time she closed out her day by sticking the landing on her uneven bars routine – receiving another huge ovation and beaming as she shared a dance with teammate Jordan Chiles. | AFP