TOKYO (AP) — Simone Biles is returning to competition in Tokyo.
The 2016 Olympic champion will compete in the balance beam finals on Tuesday. That’s a little over a week after the American superstar stepped away from the meet to focus on her mental health.
The 24-year-old Biles won bronze on beam in Rio de Janeiro five years ago and qualified for the eight-woman final at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre on the first weekend of the Games. She opted out of the finals in the all-around, floor exercise, uneven bars and vault.
Also at the Tokyo Games:
— American gymnast Jade Carey has won the gold medal on floor exercise. The 21-year-old from Arizona bounced back from a frightening stumble during the vault final on Sunday to claim the top spot on floor with a score of 14.366. The medal is the fifth claimed by the U.S. women’s gymnastics team in Tokyo.
— Injuries are mounting for the US women’s volleyball team at the Tokyo Games. The team lost a second player to a rolled right ankle when setter Jordyn Poulter landed on a teammate’s foot in victory against Italy. The injury comes two days after star Jordan Thompson went down with the same injury against the Russian Olympic Committee. Thompson is hopeful of returning before the end of the Olympics. The US is already guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals.
— A’ja Wilson scored 22 points and Breanna Stewart added 17 to help the U.S. women’s basketball team eke out a 93-82 win over France. The win was the 52nd in a row for the U.S. dating back to the bronze medal game of the 1992 Olympics. The Americans haven’t lost a game in group play since women’s basketball was added to the Olympics in 1976.
— Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn has won gold in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, powering ahead of American Keni Harrison. The result keeps the United States out of the win column at the Olympic track meet for yet another session. Camacho-Quinn finished in 12.37 seconds for a .15 second win over Harrison, the world-record holder.
— April Ross and Alix Klineman have advanced to the quarterfinals of the beach volleyball tournament. The American “A-Team” beat Cuba 21-17, 21-15, a day after two other U.S. teams were ousted in the first knockout round.
— World champion Sifan Hassan made an incredible recovery from a fall at the final bell to win her 1,500-meter heat at the Olympics today. Hassan picked herself up after getting in a tangle with Kenyan runner Edinah Jebitok at the start of the last lap. It kept alive the Dutch runner’s bid for a rare distance-running treble at these Olympics.
— The U.S. women’s soccer team was hurt early in its semifinal game against Canada when goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher came down awkwardly trying to go up for the ball. Naeher was attended to by trainers for some five minutes while backup Adrianna Franch warmed up. Naeher tried to stay in the game but struggled. She was replaced by Franch, making her Olympic debut, in the 30th minute. Naeher was key for the U.S. against the Netherands in the quarterfinals, with a penalty save during regulation and two more in a shootout. The U.S. advanced 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. The game was scoreless at the half in Kashima.
— The Chinese women’s cycling sprint team of Bao Shanju and Zhong Tianshi beat the German duo of Lea Sophie Friedrich and Emma Hinze in the finals to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Bao and Zhong built a lead of .325 seconds by the midway point of the sprint race, but the German team came on strong at the end. The margin was just 85 thousandths of a second with China stopping the clock in 31.895.
— The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee says shot putter Raven Saunders’ gesture during her medals ceremony “was respectful of her competitors and did not violate our rules related to demonstration.” After receiving her silver medal at the Olympics on Sunday, and after the Chinese national anthem played for winner Gong Lijiao, Saunders lifted her arms above her head and formed an “X” with her wrists. Asked by The Associated Press what that meant, she explained: ”It’s the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet.”
