UPDATE: Simone Biles holds off Brazil's Rebeca Andrade in all-around, becomes oldest Olympic women's gymnastics champ since 1952.

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Olympics gymnastics latest: Simone Biles narrowly leads Rebeca Andrade entering final rotation

Abstract:
Simone Biles, fresh off leading the U.S. women’s gymnastics team back to the gold medal in team competition, is back on the mat today for the Paris Olympics all-around finals. The 27-year-old is attempting to become the oldest women’s all-around champion since 1952, taking on a field that includes Brazilian star Rebeca Andrade and defending Olympic champion Sunisa Lee.

PARIS (AP) — Simone Biles, fresh off leading the U.S. women’s gymnastics team back to the gold medal in team competition, is back on the mat today for the Paris Olympics all-around finals. The 27-year-old is attempting to become the oldest women’s all-around champion since 1952, taking on a field that includes Brazilian star Rebeca Andrade and defending Olympic champion Sunisa Lee.

Biles’ seven gold medals in Olympic and world championship all-around competitions have come by an average margin of victory of 1.446 points.

(That’s a lot in gymnastics.)

Her lead over Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade going into the fourth and final rotation of all-around at the Paris Games on Thursday night: 0.166 points.

To the floor we go, to decide gold.

A couple of tiny slip-ups didn’t seem to hurt Biles on the beam as she tries to close in on Andrade.

Biles’ score: 14.566. She entered the third rotation about a quarter-point behind Andrade.

Translation: it’s likely going to be very close going into the floor exercise, which will decide gold.

Andrade is in the lead midway through the all-around final.

Andrade’s uneven bars routine was a model of fluidity while Biles botched a transition that dropped her to third overall, 0.267 points behind Andrade.

Algerian specialist Kaylia Nemour, as expected, posted the best score on bars, a massive 15.533 that pushed her past Biles for all-around. She trails Andrade by just 0.200 points, but she’s unlikely to keep pace on the remaining apparatuses.

Simone Biles has a fight on her hands for the Olympic all-around title.

Biles trails Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade by 0.267 through two rotations. The duo next heads to the balance beam, where Biles was second during qualifying and Andrade third.

Biles will be the first gymnast up during the rotation, with Andrade going last.

The two will finish the night on floor exercise, where the difficulty of Biles’ routine gives her a significant advantage. If Biles can stay on the beam, she would be well positioned to pass Andrade after floor.

Biles has made her first big mistake of the Olympics.

She botched a transition from the upper bar to the lower bar, a miscue that messed with her momentum and forced her to muscle her way back into her routine.

Biles was visibly annoyed as she made her way off the podium.

Her score of 13.733 dropped her behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade through two rotations.

Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and other members of the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team are in Paris to watch Simone Biles in the women’s all-around competition.

It wasn’t a surprise: When the team got together for training camp, it was basically unanimous that Biles was the athlete that they most wanted to see at the Paris Games.

The basketball team will be in the arena where gymnastics is being held starting next week, when the quarterfinals of their Olympic tournament take place on Tuesday.

Lee faceplanted during her warmup on uneven bars. It’s the second time she’s done that this week, but it hasn’t really hampered her. She was as good as ever there in qualifying when it counted.

Biles submitted a unique skill on uneven bars to the International Gymnastics Federation last week.

It’s unlikely we’ll see it during the all-around final.

Biles is only expected to do the move, which requires her to do a 540-degree turn while holding a handstand on the lower bar, if she makes the uneven bars final. She is currently the first alternate after qualifying ninth on the event.

Biles brought out the Yurchenko double pike vault after passing on doing one during the team final to protect her tender left calf.

Biles is the only woman to ever complete the vault in competition and it carries her name in the sport’s Code of Points. The move requires her to do a roundoff back handspring onto the vaulting table, followed by two back flips while clasping her legs.

She took a sizable step back on her dismount but otherwise kept it under control.

Biles is off and running in her quest for another Olympic all-around title. Her score on the vault: 15.766.

It’s a significant lead over Andrade’s 15.100 already, with three events left for both.

There was speculation Andrade could attempt a Yurchenko triple twist during the final.

The Brazilian gymnast submitted the vault to be named after her in the sport’s Code of Points. She has performed it at training but did not try it the all-around. She instead opted for a difficult Cheng that earned her 15.100 points. It was nearly flawless.

She will have another chance to perform the Yurchenko triple twist in the vault final next week. If she succeeds, the vault would be the first skill named after Andrade.

The defending Olympic all-around champion is behind her Tokyo pace at the start.

Sunisa Lee was the first athlete on the vault, and the 21-year-old American who won the title at the Tokyo Games three years ago took a bit of a hop on the landing. Her score was 13.933.

Her score on the vault in the Tokyo all-around: 14.600.

Biles and Lee aren’t the only American women in the all-around final.

Luisa Blanco, a Texas native and recent Alabama graduate, made the final while competing for Colombia. Blanco’s parents are Colombian and she obtained dual citizenship over the last year.

She began competing for Colombia last fall and her performance at the Pan American Games helped her earn a spot under the rings.

The 24 athletes have been introduced at the women’s all-around competition, with Simone Biles coming out last and to the biggest ovation, of course.

Biles and U.S. teammate Sunisa Lee — the reigning all-around Olympic champion — will open on vault for their first rotation.

Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee and the rest of the all-around finalists are on the floor.

There are two components to Olympics gymnastics scoring: The difficulty or D-score is what a gymnast does. The execution or E-score is how well they do it.

Technically, there’s no limit on how high the D-score can go, but most elite routines top out between 5.4 and 6.0. Some exceptional ones can go higher — for example, Biles’ floor routine at the team finals had a 6.8 D-score.

The E-table is based on a 10-point system, though no perfect 10 for execution has ever been awarded anywhere since the new paradigm was introduced (Simone Biles has come close a couple of times on vault). Anything over 8 is good.

The two scores are added together. A total of 13.0 or better is solid. Anything in the 14s is excellent and puts you in medal contention. A 15 or better (typically reserved for vault and typically reserved for Biles) and you’re pretty much assured of a gold medal.

During the all-around finals, each gymnast is judged on vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor, and their scores are added together. Highest total wins.

Biles and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade are rivals — and friends.

“It’s an honor to be able to compete alongside her,” Andrade said after leading Brazil to the bronze medal in the team’s competition won by the U.S. team in Paris. “She’s a reference and a role model for the whole world of gymnastics. And also for other athletes.”

Andrade and Biles made their Olympic debut together in Rio eight years ago.

“To be able to watch how she competes and see how happy she is to compete, the hard work she does, it’s fantastic to witness,” the 25-year-old Andrade said. “I don’t know what will happen when she’s not around any more. I don’t even know if I’m still around (by that time), either.”

Andrade won the gold medal in the vault at the Tokyo Olympics and was runner-up in the all-around to Sunisa Lee.

Simone Biles has had five skills named after her in the gymnastics’ Code of Points after completing them in competition.

There’s a chance Biles could add a sixth element at the Olympics, where she has submitted a new skill on uneven bars.

She did not attempt the skill during qualifying or the team finals but could try it during the all-around competition.