PARIS -- Simone Biles is back on top of the gymnastics world.
But it wasn't easy, nor was it even a given for much of the Olympic all-around competition on Thursday night at Bercy Arena. By the end, she had earned her second gold medal in the event -- becoming just the third woman to earn the title multiple times and the first to do it in nonconsecutive Games.
But it took everything -- including several eponymous and superhuman skills -- she had.
"That was so stressful," Biles mouthed to former teammate Aly Raisman when she walked into her news conference later.
The 27-year-old American has become known for her large margins of victory throughout her career, but Thursday was one of her closest calls during an international meet. After a challenging rotation on uneven bars, which saw her legs nearly hit the floor after she misjudged a transition, Biles had fallen to the unfamiliar position of third place in the standings at the halfway mark. But she regrouped before moving on -- praying to "every single god out there" -- and reclaimed the lead after balance beam.
After closing the competition on floor and earning a massive 15.066 behind her high-flying tumbling that was loaded with difficulty, she had secured a 59.131 final score -- 1.199 better than silver medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil.
"I don't want to compete with Rebeca no more," Biles later said with a laugh. "I'm tired. She's way too close. I've never had an athlete that close, but [it] definitely put me on my toes and it brought out the best athlete in myself."
Biles' teammate Sunisa Lee, the 2020 Olympic all-around champion, claimed the bronze medal. She had been looking to become the first woman in 56 years to defend the title, but, after dealing with multiple career-jeopardizing kidney diseases since Tokyo, she seemed more than pleased to simply return to the podium in any spot.
Biles and Lee had helped lead the United States to team gold on Tuesday. They waited together on Thursday for Biles' final score. Once it flashed on the screen, the two hugged with excitement before running back onto the floor and posing with an American flag.
Moments later, Biles displayed a diamond-encrusted necklace featuring a goat, to signify her status as the "greatest of all time," a title that has long been bestowed on her.
But despite her legacy in the sport, Biles admitted she wasn't sure if she would ever compete again following the Tokyo Games three years ago, when she withdrew from the all-around competition after experiencing the "twisties" in the team final days earlier.
"I never thought I'd step foot on the gymnastics floor again just because of everything that had happened," Biles said Thursday. "But with the help of [coaches] Cecile and Laurent [Landi], I got back in the gym and worked really hard mentally and physically."
Since then, Biles said she has been working with a therapist on a weekly basis, and even more frequently during competitions. She had a virtual session on Thursday morning, just as she had on Tuesday morning ahead of the team final. She credited that work for helping her stay focused after her challenges on bars. She said she had been disappointed by her performance on the apparatus -- knowing she could have done better -- but she was able to recenter herself and move on.
Competing first on beam in her next rotation, Biles earned the highest score of the night on the event with a 14.566. As the last gymnast on the apparatus in the rotation, Andrade needed a very visible balance check, causing the crowd to gasp in surprise, and earned a deduction in her score. Biles appeared to be significantly more relaxed as she walked to the floor routine and waited for her chance to compete.
As soon as she landed her opening tumbling pass, Biles seemed to know the gold medal was hers, and the crowd, which included USA Basketball's Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, reacted accordingly. The rest of her routine felt almost like a victory lap. Biles said she was "really proud" of the work she had put in to get to that moment.
This was Biles' sixth career Olympic gold medal and ninth medal overall. She is the first female gymnast to win nine career medals at the Games since Nadia Comaneci in 1980.
And Biles is far from done this week. She is slated to compete in the event finals for vault, beam and floor and could realistically claim medals on all three. If she were to do so, she would become the second-most decorated female gymnast in Olympic history.
Lee, who herself wasn't sure if she would ever be able to compete again before returning to elite earlier this year, called Biles "one of the greatest" when speaking to reporters later. She also credited her teammate for helping her during the meet -- albeit in an unexpected way.
"I went out there and I just told myself not to put any pressure on myself because I didn't want to think about the past Olympics or even trying to prove to anybody anything because I wanted to just prove to myself that I could do it because I didn't think that I could," Lee said. "But it has taken a lot. I mean, I'm so grateful that I had my coaches, and having Simone here today definitely helped me a lot because we were both freaking out. So it just felt nice to know that I wasn't out there freaking out by myself."
Somehow both Biles and Lee were able to get past all of the obstacles of the past several years, as well as the nerves, anxiety and doubt, and prove to themselves -- and the world -- that they could stand on the podium yet again.
"I'm super proud of my performance tonight and the fight that I've had for the last three years mentally and physically," Biles said. "Just to get back competing on [the] world stage [at the] Olympic Games is an amazing experience. I couldn't be prouder."