Gymnastics-Triumphant Biles leads US to gymnastics team gold

PARIS :Simone Biles clinched her fifth Olympic gold medal as she made a triumphant return to the women's gymnastics team final at the Paris Games on Tuesday, reinforcing her status as one of the world's greatest athletes just three years after withdrawing from the same event at the Tokyo Games.

Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all-time, earned the United States their 11th Olympic medal in the women's team event with a solid performance on all four apparatus after starting off on the vault, from which she soared high into the air while executing the Cheng to earn 14.900 points.

With the crowd rallying behind Biles and her teammates in the absence of the French team that failed to qualify for the final, the United States finished with a total of 171.296, an impressive 5.802 points ahead of second-placed Italy. 

While the Italians won their first women's Olympic team medal since the 1928 Olympics, an incredible, high-flying vault by Rebeca Andrade landed Brazil the bronze, their first ever medal in the discipline. Britain finished fourth.

Biles, who was competing with her left calf taped after suffering a muscle strain during Sunday's qualifying competition, glided through her uneven bars routine with ease to the delight of the 15,000 fans packed into Bercy Arena, who serenaded her with chants of "USA, USA, USA!". She was awarded 14.400.

The star-studded crowd that included tennis great Serena Williams and the most successful Olympian ever, swimmer Michael Phelps, also roared their approval when Biles' teammates Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles completed their equally impressive displays on the bars by nailing their dismounts.

After falling flat on the mat during the warm-up, Lee - the defending all-around Olympic champion -