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          ICYMI: Team USA's Suni Lee wins Olympic gold, plus more from women's gymnastics all-around in Tokyo

          • ESPN
          Jul 29, 2021, 12:15 PM

          With the news that Simone Biles was out of the women's all-around competition, all eyes were on Sunisa Lee as the American gymnast who was most likely to become Olympic champion by the end of the day.

          Lee was up for the challenge. The 18-year-old put together a string of masterful performances to edge Brazilian Rebeca Andrade (57.298) for the gold medal with a total score of 57.433. Lee becomes the sixth American gymnast to accomplish the feat. Andrade's silver is the first-ever Olympic medal for Brazil in women's gymnastics.

          We've got you covered with all the action you might have missed during a dramatic all-around final:

          Olympics medal tracker | Schedule

          Suni Lee is golden

          With her teammates in the stands and her family gathered at a watch party back home in St. Paul, Minnesota, Suni Lee became the fifth straight American woman to win Olympic all-around gold.

          Lee led Brazilian Rebeca Andrade by one-tenth of a point heading into the final rotation on floor -- one of Andrade's strongest events and a weaker one for Lee. Angelina Melnikova of ROC jumped ahead early in the rotation after a strong, clean performance, but Lee answered and returned to the top of the leaderboard with only Andrade and Jade Carey left to perform. Andrade rebounded out of bounds on her first pass and stepped out a second time, securing gold for Lee. Andrade took silver, and Melnikova took bronze. -- Alyssa Roenigk

          The final standings:

          1. Sunisa Lee, USA -- 57.433

          2. Rebeca Andrade, Brazil -- 57.298

          3. Angelina Melnikova, Russian Olympic Committee -- 57.199

          4. Vladislava Urazova, Russian Olympic Committee -- 56.966

          5. Mai Murakami, Japan -- 56.032

          6. Nina Derwael, Belgium -- 55.965

          7. Tang Xijing, China -- 54.498

          8. Jade Carey, USA -- 54.199

          Suni takes the lead with one rotation to go

          With just one event remaining, things have gotten very interesting here in Tokyo. While Sunisa Lee holds the top spot after three events, it's shaping up to be a four-way race atop the leaderboard between Lee, Brazil's Rebeca Andrade and the Russian Olympic Committee's Angelina Melnikova and Vladislava Urazova. All are within a half-point of one another.

          Lee scored a 13.833 on beam in her third event after saving her wolf turn -- significantly less than the 14.200 she earned in qualifying but still the second-best score of her rotation. Urazova had the best score of the group with a 14.200.

          Jade Carey opened the rotation and fell off the beam during her acrobatic series, netting her a 11.533 and all but eliminating her chances of a medal.

          No matter what happens, you won't want to blink during this final rotation.

          Standings after the third rotation:

          1. Sunisa Lee, USA -- 43.733

          2. Rebeca Andrade, Brazil -- 43.632

          3. Vladislava Urazova, Russian Olympic Committee -- 43.566

          4. Angelina Melnikova, Russian Olympic Committee -- 43.233

          5. Nina Derwael, Belgium -- 42.532

          12. Jade Carey, USA -- 40.233

          Suni Lee comes to play; Rebeca Andrade leads the way

          The bar rotation in the top group was an epic battle, with Suni Lee hanging on to her very difficult routine -- and earning a huge 15.300. All didn't go perfectly for Lee, but she made adjustments throughout and received the highest score of the day so far on that event.

          Belgium's Nina Derwael, a two-time world champion on bars, hit all of her releases for a 15.266, and ROC team gymnasts Angelina Melnikova and Vladislava Urazova nailed their matching skills for almost-matching scores of 14.900 and 14.866, respectively.

          Rebeca Andrade put up a strong 14.666 with her lofty, effortless release moves -- and leads the all-around, less than a tenth ahead of Lee. Jade Carey missed a combination early in her routine and earned a 13.500 -- more than a half-point lower than her qualifications score. -- Amy Van Deusen

          Standings after the second rotation:

          1. Rebeca Andrade, Brazil -- 29.966

          2. Sunisa Lee, USA -- 29.900

          3. Angelina Melnikova, Russian Olympic Committee -- 29.533

          4. Vladislava Urazova, Russian Olympic Committee -- 29.366

          5. Nina Derwael, Belgium -- 29.166

          6. Jade Carey, USA -- 28.700

          U.S. gymnasts start strong

          If the first rotation has been any indication, it's going to be a very interesting night in Tokyo. Americans Sunisa Lee and Jade Carey both opened on vault and made their cases as legitimate medal contenders.

          Lee, who was the first to compete on the event, had a nearly flawless Yurchenko double twist and earned a 14.6. Carey, who had the second-highest vault score in qualifying on Sunday, notched a 15.2 for her Cheng. She had a slight hop back on the landing but otherwise made a very strong opening statement.

          Lee and Carey embraced after they completed the event, clearly both pleased with their results.

          Brazil's Rebeca Andrade, who had the third-highest qualifying score on vault, earned a 15.3 -- the best score of the night on any event thus far. The 22-year-old is coming off her third ACL surgery and had an 11th-place finish in the all-around competition in Rio. -- D'Arcy Maine

          Standings after the first rotation:

          1. Andrade, Brazil

          2. Carey, USA

          3. Angelina Melnikova, Russian Olympic Committee

          4. Lee, USA

          5. Vladislava Urazova, Russian Olympic Committee

          Biles is in the stands

          Simone Biles isn't participating in Thursday's event, but she is in the building. She's sitting with teammates Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum (not pictured) and MyKayla Skinner in the front row, and they've already been heard cheering loudly for Suni Lee and Jade Carey during warm-ups and introductions. -- D'Arcy Maine

          It's almost time ...

          It's the final countdown, and the anticipation is, well, high.

          All eyes will be on American athletes Lee and Jade Carey as they compete to be crowned the new individual all-around champion. Today's start list for the first rotation:

          With Biles out, who will win?

          Isn't that the million-dollar question. If you look at qualification scores, the four gymnasts after Biles were all only .300 apart. It's going to be suspenseful.

          Here's everything you need to know -- plus more on Jade Carey, the U.S. athlete who now will be competing in Biles' spot.

          The lowdown on Lee

          Sunisa Lee, known as Suni, has one of the best bar routines in the world -- and she finished third in the all-around in qualifications. A three-time world medalist, Lee has the credentials to end up on the Olympic podium. Writer Alyssa Roenigk spent time with her close-knit family before the Olympics, and trust us, her story is well worth reading.