US' Simone Biles (silver), Brazil's Rebeca Andrade (gold) and US' Jordan Chiles (bronze) pose during the podium ceremony for the artistic gymnastics women's floor exercise event at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on August 5, 2024. Photo: AFP / Gabriel Bouys
US superstar Simone Biles said it was "just the right thing to do" after she and team-mate Jordan Chiles bowed down to Olympic gold medallist Rebeca Andrade after the floor final in Paris.
Biles had been hoping to win a fourth gold at these Games but a couple of mistakes meant she had to settle for silver behind the Brazilian.
However, the 27-year-old, who is the world's most decorated gymnast, was far from disappointed and instead joined Chiles in showing admiration to Andrade in one of the iconic images of these Games.
The trio also made history as the first all-Black podium in men or women's gymnastics at the Olympics.
"Rebeca's so amazing, she's a queen," said Biles. "She's such an excitement to watch and then all the fans in the crowd were always cheering for her, so it was just the right thing to do.
"It was an all-black podium so that was super-exciting for us, but then Jordan was like 'should we bow to her?' and I was like 'absolutely'."
Simone Biles during her floor routine at the Bercy Arena. Photo: AFP / Kaname Muto
Andrade, who lost out on the all-around title to Biles last week, appreciated the show of respect, saying: "It was very cute of them.
"They are the world's best athletes and what they did means a lot to me. We're always rooting for each other, the final is very difficult for everyone."
Biles now has 11 Olympic medals after winning team, all-around and vault golds in Paris to go with her floor silver, while she was fifth in the beam final.
This story was first published by the BBC.
