Biles Wins Bronze on Beam While Miller ‘Dives’ for Gold in Sprint

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Monday, August 15th, Simone Biles’s feet faltered on the high beam, and the one who is being called the greatest woman gymnast ever, showed the world that yes, she is human. Biles won a bronze for her routine, finishing third after U.S.’s Laurie Hernandez and gold medal winner, Sanne Wevers, from the Netherlands.

“Yes, she is human,” coach Aimee Boorman told reporters, noting the exceptional control her star pupil had not to fall off the beam. “I don’t know how she made that save because both of her feet were coming off of the beam. I was pretty impressed with that. That took superhuman powers. I see it as a triumph. She won a bronze medal on beam at the Olympics. That’s huge.”

On Tuesday, however, Biles will have another chance to win her fourth gold medal in this Olympics when she competes in the gymnastics floor finals.

Another athlete who shined on Monday was Bahama’s Shaunae Miller on the 400-meter sprint. The athlete won the gold medal after ‘diving’ to get past U.S.’s Allyson Felix. Miller landed flat on her stomach with the best time of the heat, at 49.44. Felix took the silver, while Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson won the bronze.

The ‘diving’ technique although condemned by many on social media was applauded by one individual: four time Olympic gold medal U.S. sprinter Michael Johnson.

“Shaunae Miller’s dive was to recover from falling. Sprinters know the quickest way across the line is a well-timed lean. Trust me on that,” Johnson tweeted on his personal account.