Dazzling Biles vaults to her seventh Olympic gold medal

Simone Biles has earned her seventh Olympic gold medal by soaring to victory in the women’s vault final at the Paris Games.

The legendary American averaged 15,300 for her signature Yurchenko double pike and Cheng vaults to claim a second gold on the event eight years after she triumphed in Rio de Janeiro.

Rebeca Andrade, of Brazil, who finished runner-up to Biles in the all-around final on Thursday, took silver, just ahead of American Jade Carey, who captured the bronze.

Biles, 27, is the second woman to win vault twice, joining Vera Casalavska, of Czechoslovakia, as a two-time gold medalist on the vault.

Casalavska went back-to-back in 1964 and 1968. Biles now has 10 Olympic medals in her career, tied for the third most by a female gymnast. She also increased her medal count at major international competitions to 40, the most by any gymnast.

The crowd inside a packed Bercy Arena roared when Biles was introduced. Wearing a sequined red leotard, she delivered another show-stopping performance in what could be the last vault competition of her life.

She drilled her Yurchenko double pike, exploding off the block and then flipping backward twice with her hands clasped behind her knees. She landed with a big bounce — a nod to the energy she generates — with her right foot on the out-of-bounds line.

The judges called her a 10th of a point for that. It hardly matters. Her score of 15,700 meant she was merely needed to avoid disaster on her second vault to win.

Instead, she almost stuck her Cheng, which requires a roundoff onto the springboard, then a half twist onto the block followed by one-and-a-half twists while doing a forward somersault.

The ensuing 14,900 meant the rest of the eight-woman field was going for second.

Biles will have two more chances to increase her medal haul in Paris. She will compete in the balance beam and floor exercise finals on Monday.

Carlos Yulo won the second Olympic gold medal ever for the Philippines, edging Israel’s defending champion, Artem Dolgopyat, in the men’s floor exercise finals.

Yulo joins weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz as Olympic gold medalists from the Philippines. Diaz earned gold in the women’s 55-kilogram division in Tokyo three years ago.