US gymnasts鈥� show of sportsmanship wins hearts in iconic podium moment
A heartwarming display of sportsmanship by two American gymnasts has won praise from fans in a viral moment that lit up social media and is likely to become another enduring image of the Paris Olympics.
It all happened Monday when Brazilian gymnastics gold medalist Rebeca Andrade approached the podium for the medal ceremony following a women鈥檚 floor final full of twists and turns.
Showing no hard feelings, American duo Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles turned to Andrade from the lower section of the podium and bowed to the Brazilian, who raised her arms in triumph.
The golden moment, which also marked the first all-Black Olympics gymnastics podium, touched hearts on social media.
鈥淭his is everything,鈥� said a post on the Olympics鈥� official X account underneath a photo of the moment that has been viewed more than 26 million times.
鈥淢aybe we should hang it in the Louvre鈥�,鈥� replied the official account of the world-renowned Paris art museum in a post with more than 22,000 likes.
Under a video of the ceremony, viewed more than 300,000 time on Instagram, Nigerian-American basketball player Atonye Nyingifa said: 鈥淟ove to see great sportsmanship!!!鈥�
Fenwa Famakinwa Milhouse, another Instagram user, said: 鈥淟iteral tears - this is how we show up for one another. It鈥檚 beautiful to see.鈥�
Biles, the most decorated American Olympic gymnast of all time, appeared to have put together another stunning performance but landing out of bounds twice cost the U.S. star six-tenths of a point, enough to bring her score down to 14.133 behind gold medalist Andrade, who scored a 14.166.
But Biles, who now has 11 Olympic medals including seven golds, seemed to take the disappointment in her stride as she hailed Andrade as the new ruler of the floor.
鈥淪he鈥檚 so amazing. She鈥檚 queen,鈥� Biles said of Andrade on Monday. 鈥淎nd first it was an all-Black podium, so that was super exciting for us. But then Jordan was like, 鈥楽hould we bow to her?鈥� And I was like, 鈥楢bsolutely.鈥� So we鈥檙e like, 鈥楢re we gonna do it now?鈥� And then, that鈥檚 why we did it.鈥�
Chiles, who won bronze in a dramatic twist after she challenged the judges鈥� score, said she wanted to make sure that Andrade got the praise she felt the Brazilian deserved and that the new gold medalist is one of the kinder competitors to go up against.
鈥淵ou know, she鈥檚 an icon, a legend herself,鈥� Chiles said. 鈥淪o I feel like being recognized is what everybody should do when it comes to somebody who鈥檚 put in the work, put in the dedication.
鈥淪o yeah, in that moment, I was like 鈥� first off, again, yes, it was an all-Black podium. Second off, why don鈥檛 we just give her flowers? She鈥檚 given, you know, not only has she given Simone her flowers, but a lot of us on, in the United States our flowers as well, so giving it back is what makes it so beautiful. So I felt like it was needed.鈥�