Gymnastics recap, Aug. 3: Biles wins career gold No. 7, Yulo ...

It’s been a long time in the making, but Carlos Yulo can finally call himself an Olympic champion. And it was impossible for him to hold back the tears. 

After rocking his floor routine — capped off with a stuck 3.5 twist (15.000) — the 24 year old nabbed the first Olympic medal for the Philippines in gymnastics and only the second Olympic gold medal in the country's Olympic history. Yulo is the first man to win an Olympic gold medal for the Philippines. 

"I'm so overwhelmed," Yulo said after the competition. "I'm feeling grateful for having this medal and for God. He protected me, as always. He gave me the strength to get through this kind of performance and perform this well."

Yulo knocked off Tokyo Olympic champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, who improved his performance from the qualification round by five tenths, but gave away too many tenths on his landings to defend his title. Dolgopyat took home the silver (14.966). 

Great Britain’s Jake Jarman entered the final as the top qualifier and impressed with his high level of difficulty — including a triple twisting double layout and a triple twisting double tuck. Jarman, however, did not stick any of his landings and was unable to top Yulo in the end. Jarman finished third (14.933), securing the first Olympic medal of his career. 

RESULTS

Simone Biles is golden once again. After pulling out of the vault final at the 2020 Tokyo Games, Biles is back on top of the medal podium — now a two-time Olympic champion on vault (she first won in 2016) and a seven-time Olympic gold medalist. 

Unable to contend with Biles’ level of difficulty, defending Olympic champion Rebeca Andrade finished second. The freshly minted two-time Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey, finished third to add a third Olympic medal to her haul. 

Biles competed in the first group of athletes, vaulting an explosive Yurchenko double pike (15.700) and Cheng (14.900), for an average of 15.300. 

Andrade soared on her Cheng to outscore Biles’ Cheng with a 15.100. She busted out an Amanar for her second vault (14.833) to lock in the silver (14.966 average). 

Carey was on a bit of a mission — perhaps her own personal "Redemption Tour" — after an uncharacteristic mistake forced her to the bottom of the standings in Tokyo. Carey performed two of the best vaults of her career (14.733 for her Cheng and 14.466 for her Yurchenko double twist) with just a small hop on the landing. Carey's average of 14.466 secured the bronze. 

"This feels like redemption," Carey said. "I really wanted to do better (than Tokyo 2020), especially on vault. I'm just proud of the work I put in and am really proud of what I did here today. This (the medal) feels really, really good."

RESULTS

The two-time world champion Rhys McClenaghan has upgraded his status to Olympic champion to cap off what has been an historic day in Bercy Arena. 

McClenaghan left very little to deduct, perhaps performing one of the best routines of his career to clinch the first Olympic gymnastics medal for Ireland (15.533). 

"There are so many thoughts going through my head," McClenaghan said. "I've accomplished a lifelong dream here. I can't believe it's happened. I always felt like it was going to happen, I just wasn't sure when. It feels like a dream."

Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan was the first routine of the final and set the bar high with a 15.433, which was over two tenths higher than the highest qualifying score. Kurbanov’s efforts were enough to secure Kazakhstan’s first Olympic medal in gymnastics. 

The American sensation Stephen Nedoroscik performed a tenth higher than he did in the qualifying round (15.300) to lock up his second Olympic bronze medal, just days after helping the U.S. men win its first Olympic medal in 16 years and becoming an overnight internet sensation. 

Two-time Olympic champion Max Whitlock of Great Britain was looking to win his third consecutive title on the event but had a few form breaks that made it difficult for him to keep pace for the medal race (15.200). 

RESULTS