Gold for Simone Biles and USA in gymnastics team final

Simone Biles claimed her first Olympic gold medal since coming to terms with the ‘twisties’.

Watched by Serena Williams and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Biles brought the house down with her show-closing floor routine, showing none of the injury angst that had afflicted her during the qualifying process two days earlier.

In truth Biles could simply have swirled around the floor and soaked up the acclaim such was the American dominance of the competition, as they finished almost six points clear of silver medallists Italy.

Great Britain, whose squad was decimated by injuries to the Gadirova twins and Ondine Achampong, qualified in seventh and could harbour few realistic hopes of emulating their stunning bronze medal win in Tokyo three years ago.

But the team of Becky Downie, Alice Kinsella, Georgia-Mae Fenton, Ruby Evans and 16-year-old Abigail Martin confounded expectations with a near-faultless display, and were placed third until the final piece of apparatus.

Downie admitted the team briefly believed they may have just done enough to reach the podium but ultimately, Brazil’s big finish on vault let the South Americans leapfrog into the bronze medal position.

“Once Alice had gone through beam I thought we’d done enough from our adding-up, but then it came through that we were going to be fourth,” said Downie.

“It is tough when you come so close, but we gave our all. It was an emotional day for me but I felt quite calm. I wanted to take it all in because I know I don’t have many of these moments left, and I enjoyed every minute.”

The day was especially poignant for Downie as it fell on the birthday of her brother Josh, who died suddenly at the age of 24 in 2021, as she was preparing to try to earn a place in the team