Simone Biles leads day one of U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials as injuries rock U.S. team

MINNEAPOLIS — Simone Biles is four routines away from making her third Olympic team.

She led her Olympic and club teammate, Jordan Chiles, by 2.5 points after the first day of competition at the Olympic Trials. Reigning Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee completes the top three.

The women’s gymnastics team to compete in Paris will be named on Sunday, but the selection committee will have to go back to the drawing board after three favorites suffered injuries ahead of Friday’s competition.

Kayla DiCello and Shilese Jones both suffered apparent injuries to the vault and were evacuated by medical personnel. DiCello was injured during the first rotation and Jones during warm-ups. Jones, the reigning world all-around bronze medalist, was able to compete on the uneven bars, but limped off the podium and was eliminated for the remainder of the competition.

Her score of 14.675 on the event was the highest bars score of the night.

It’s still unclear whether Jones and DiCello actually made it to the Olympics. Skye Blakely, a 19-year-old Texas native, suffered a season-ending ruptured Achilles tendon while training for the podium on Wednesday.

Selection procedures prohibit athletes from applying to be named to the Olympic team if they are injured.

Biles started her evening with a flawless set on the uneven bars, but had a few hiccups on the balance beam. Halfway through the race, the standings were unusual: Biles was not winning.

She was three-tenths behind Leanne Wong, who showed off a new improvement to the vault, the Cheng. She had initially received a two-point deduction for a one-handed takeoff, but Wong appealed her score and was ultimately awarded a score of 14.450.

A dominant floor performance returned Biles to the familiar top spot. The crowd in the arena immediately rose to its feet during the fourth rotation when she landed her namesake jump, a Yurchenko double pike.

She earned a 15.975, the highest score of the night by more than one point.

The skill is the most breathtaking and difficult element of women’s gymnastics currently performed in the world. She performed a second vault, the Cheng, to show the selection committee her prowess for the Olympic vault final, where two vaults are required.

Suni Lee, the reigning Olympic all-around champion, looked ready for Paris as she performed an improved bars routine with enormous difficulty. She performed a Nabieva on a Bhardwaj, earning a 14.400. The selection committee will not want to leave this routine at home.

Stream every moment and every medal of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Peacock, starting with the Opening Ceremony on July 26 at 12 p.m. ET.

The top all-around finisher after two days of competition at the trials will automatically earn a spot on the five-member women’s Olympic team. The other four women competing in Paris will be determined by a selection committee, which will use results from the trials and previous competitions to complete the team.

Four Olympic alternates will also be named in Minneapolis, two of whom will travel to Paris to train with the team.

The U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials for the 2024 Paris Olympics air live on NBC and Peacock through Sunday.