Simone Biles and Team USA earn 'redemption' by powering to Olympic gold in women's gymnastics

PARIS (AP) — Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles and Sunisa Lee spent the night before perhaps the biggest gymnastics meet of their lives restless.

There was a tension in the air. They'd all been in the Olympic spotlight before, experiences that left them with medals but also the kind of scars — be they physical, psychological or both — that heal but never really go away.

And here they were in Paris, the leaders of a star-laden U.S. team everyone expected to finish atop the medal stand, and something wasn't right.

In a different time, in a different era, it might have festered. Might have followed them onto the floor at Bercy Arena and into the history books, too.

This is not a different time. This is not a different era. This is now.

So the oldest team the U.S. has ever sent to the Olympics, including a trio that has spent their respective careers breaking barriers about what a female gymnast can and can't do, what they can and can't be, did something they never used to do.

They talked, with Biles — three years removed from a Tokyo Games that dragged the conversation around mental health and sports kicking and screaming into the light — right in the middle of it.

“I think there was a little bit of struggle,” she said. “So it was really needed.”

By the time they walked onto the floor for the Olympic final, the tension was gone, largely replaced with joy.

And not soon after, gold.

The self-described “Redemption Tour," the moniker given to a team filled with women who wanted to return to the Games for deeply personal reasons, ended with Biles and the Americans where they have almost always been since she burst onto the scene 11 years ago: on top of the podium, the rest of the world looking up.

Eight years after winning gold in Rio with a team that called Aly Raisman grandma because she was all of 22, Biles — now 27 and married — was back again with Jade Carey (24), Chiles (23), Lee (21) and teenager Hezly Rivera at her side.

“We don’t have to be put in the box anymore,” Biles said about a group that has dubbed itself “The Golden Girls.”

No, they don't.

With Biles at her show-stopping best, the Americans' total of 171.296 was well clear of Italy and Brazil and the exclamation point of a yearlong run in which Biles has cemented her legacy as the greatest ever in her sport, and among the best in the history of the Olympics.

“She's the greatest of all greats,” said Chiles, who now has gold to go with the team silver she, Lee and Biles earned in Tokyo, when Biles removed herself from the team final to protect herself.

Chiles, who seemed like a longshot to make it this spring after injuries piled up, was pretty good in her own right. She began the night by drilling her double-twisting Yurchenko vault, sending the Americans on a four-apparatus stop on their “Tour” that felt equal parts coronation and celebration.

By the time Biles, the left calf that bothered her during qualifying heavily taped, stepped onto the floor for the final event — a floor exercise set to music by Taylor Swift and Beyonce — it was over.

She joked she knew she simply needed to stay on her feet to win. She did more than that, providing an exclamation point on the U.S.'s third gold in its last four trips to the Games.

The Americans remain peerless (if not flawless, this is gymnastics after all) when at their best.

And over two hours in front of a crowd that included everyone from tennis great Serena Williams to actor Natalie Portman, Biles left little doubt about anything.

Her status as the sport's greatest of all time. Her ability to move past the “twisties” that derailed her in Japan. Her spot in the pantheon of the U.S. Olympic movement.

She now has a staggering 38 medals in major international competitions. Eight of those have come under the Olympic rings, moving her past Shannon Miller for the most by an American gymnast.

Yet her return wasn't so much about winning. That's never really been the point anyway, just a byproduct of her unparalleled excellence. It was about a joy she had lost somewhere along the way.

It seems to have returned. She leaned into the crowd that roared at every flip, every leap and, yes, every twist. With her husband — on break from NFL training camp — waving an American flag while sitting next to her parents, Biles did what she has done so well for so long save for a couple of difficult days in Japan during a pandemic: she dominated.

Biles met with her therapist in the morning to put her in the right mindset. There was brief — very brief — moment of trepidation as she raced down the vault runway, the event that began to spin out of control in Tokyo.

Only this time, she essentially stuck her Cheng vault, the one that sends her spinning through the air in a fraction of a second.

Afterward, she exhaled.

“I was like ‘Yes, please no flashbacks or anything,'” Biles said. “But I did feel a lot of relief. And as soon as I landed I was like ’Oh yeah, we’re going to do this.'"

Yes they were. Just like always.

The only real drama centered on who would finish next to the Americans on the medal stand.

Italy, which was a surprising second to the U.S. during qualifying, returned to the podium for the first time since 1928 by holding off Brazil for silver.

Yet there was no question about the top spot. There rarely ever is when Biles is involved.

The road back to this moment has been difficult at times. Uncertain. They felt the weight of everything on Monday night. Rather than let it weigh them down, they shed it.

“I think the talk that we had yesterday definitely helped all of us like come together tonight," Lee said. “And it just made it so much more special.”

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Simone Biles, of the United States, performs on the uneven bars during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Alice D'Amato, of Italy, celebrates after performing on the balance beam during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Manila Esposito, of Italy, performs on the balance beam during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Rebeca Andrade, of Brazil, celebrates after performing on the balance beam during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Jade Carey, of the United States, performs on the vault during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Jade Carey, of the United States, celebrates after performing on the vault during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Simone Biles, and Jordan Chiles of the United States, prepare to perform on the uneven bars during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Jordan Chiles, of the United States, performs on the balance beam during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Sunisa Lee, of United States, performs on the uneven bars during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Sunisa Lee, of United States, performs on the uneven bars during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Jordan Chiles, of the United States, performs on the balance beam during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

From left to right, Suni Lee, Simone Biles, Hezly Rivera celebrate after winning the gold medal during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Simone Biles, of the United States, performs on the floor during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Jordan Chiles, of the United States, celebrates after performing on the uneven bars during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Simone Biles, of the United States, performs on the vault during the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Members of Team USA celebrate after winning the gold medal in the women's artistic gymnastics team finals round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Simone Biles, of United States, competes on the uneven bars during a women's artistic gymnastics qualification round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

MOSINEE, Wis. (AP) — With just days to go before his first and likely only debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump posted a warning on his social media site threatening to jail those “involved in unscrupulous behavior” this election, which he said would be under intense scrutiny.

“WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” Trump wrote late Saturday, sowing doubt once more about the integrity of the election, even though cheating is incredibly rare.

“Please beware,” he went on, “that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country."

Trump's message represents his latest threat to use the office of the presidency to exact retribution if he wins a second term. There is no evidence of the kind of fraud he continues to insist marred the 2020 election; in fact, dozens of courts, Republican state officials and his own administration have said he lost fairly.

Just days ago, Trump himself acknowledged in a podcast interview that he had indeed “lost by a whisker.”

While Trump's campaign aides and allies have urged him to keep his focus on Harris and make the election a referendum on issues like inflation and border security, Trump in recent days has veered far off course.

On Friday, he delivered a stunning statement to news cameras in which he brought up a string of past allegations of sexual misconduct, describing several in graphic detail, even as he denied his accusers’ allegations. Earlier, he had voluntarily appeared in court for a hearing on the appeal of a decision that found him liable for sexual abuse, turning focus to his legal woes in the campaign's final stretch.

Earlier Saturday, Trump had leaned into familiar grievances about everything from his indictments to Russia's meddling in the 2016 election as he campaigned in one of the most deeply Republican swaths of battleground Wisconsin.

“The Harris-Biden DOJ is trying to throw me in jail — they want me in jail — for the crime of exposing their corruption,” Trump claimed at an outdoor rally at Central Wisconsin Airport, where he spoke behind a wall of bulletproof glass due to new security protocols following his July assassination attempt.

There’s no evidence that President Joe Biden or Harris have had any influence over decisions by the Justice Department or state prosecutors to indict the former president.

Trump has eschewed traditional debate preparation, choosing to hold rallies and events while Harris has been cloistered in a historic hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, working with aides since Thursday.

Harris has agreed so far to a single debate, which will be hosted by ABC.

At the rally, Trump outlined his plans to “Drain the swamp” — a throwback to his winning 2016 campaign message as he ran as an outsider challenging the status quo. Though Trump spent four years in the Oval Office, he vowed anew to “cast out the corrupt political class” if he wins again and to “cut the fat out of our government for the first time, meaningfully, in 60 years.”

As part of that effort, he repeated his plan, announced Thursday, to create a new “Government Efficiency Commission” headed by Elon Musk that will be charged with conducting “a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government" to root out waste.

After again maligning the Congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the nation’s capitol by his supporters after his election loss in 2020, Trump told the crowd of thousands that he would “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner unjustly victimized by the Harris regime” and sign their pardons on his first day back in office.

Trump has repeatedly defended those who have been jailed for crimes including violent attacks on law enforcement.

And he said he would “completely overhaul” what he labeled “Kamala’s corrupt Department of Injustice.”

“Instead of persecuting Republicans, they will focus on taking down bloodthirsty cartels, transnational gangs, and radical Islamic terrorists,” he said.

Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika responded to his comments with a statement warning that, if Trump is reelected, he will “use his unchecked power to prosecute his enemies and pardon insurrectionists who violently attacked our Capitol on January 6."

Both Harris and Trump have been frequent visitors to Wisconsin this year, a state where four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by less than a percentage point. Several polls of Wisconsin voters conducted after Biden withdrew showed Harris and Trump in a close race.

Democrats consider Wisconsin to be one of the must-win “blue wall” states. Biden, who was in Wisconsin on Thursday, won the state in 2020 by just under 21,000 votes. Trump carried it by a slightly larger margin, nearly 23,000 votes, in 2016.

As Trump was campaigning, Harris took a short break from debate prep to visit Penzeys Spices in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, where she bought several seasoning mixes. One customer saw the Democratic nominee and began openly weeping as Harris hugged her and said, “We’re going to be fine. We’re all in this together.”

Harris said she was honored to have endorsements from two major Republicans: former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, Liz Cheney, the former Wyoming congresswoman.

“People are exhausted, about the division and the attempts to kind of divide us as Americans,” she said, adding that her main message at the debate would be that the country wants to be united.

“It’s time to turn the page on the divisiveness,” she said. “It’s time to bring our country together, to chart a new way forward.”

Trump held his rally in the central Wisconsin city of Mosinee, with a population of about 4,500 people. It is within Wisconsin's mostly rural 7th Congressional District, a reliably Republican area in a purple state.

During his speech, he railed against Harris in dark and ominous language, claiming that if the woman he calls “Comrade Kamala Harris gets four more years, you will be living (in) a full-blown Banana Republic" ruled by “anarchy” and “tyranny.”

Trump also railed against the administration's border policies, calling the Democrats’ approach “suicidal" and accusing them of having “imported murderers, child predators and serial rapists from all over the planet."

Many studies have found immigrants, including those in the country illegally, commit fewer violent crimes than native-born citizens. Violent crime in the U.S. dropped again last year, continuing a downward trend after a pandemic-era spike.

He dismissed warnings from U.S. officials about ongoing Russian attempts to spread disinformation ahead of November's election, including an indictment this past week that alleged a media company linked to six conservative influencers was secretly funded by Russian state media employees.

“The Justice Department said Russia may be involved in our elections again,” Trump told the crowd. “And, you know, the whole world laughed at it this time.”

Among those in the crowd was Dale Osuldsen, who was celebrating his 68th birthday Saturday at his first ever Trump rally. He hopes a second Trump administration will take on “cancel culture” and bring the country back to its “foundational past.

“We’ve had past administrations say they want to fundamentally change America,” Osulden said. “Fundamentally changing America is a bad thing.”

Many supporters embarked on hours-long drives from across Wisconsin to see Trump speak. Some came from even further.

Sean Moon, a Tennessee musician who releases MAGA-themed rap music under the stage name, “King Bullethead,” blasted his songs from a truck in the event parking lot. As a musician, he said Trump rallies approximate the experience of a raucous concert.

“Trump is a rockstar,” Moon said. “He’s incredible. People see he represents them and the deep state trying to kill him and take him out. But he’s standing strong, and he stands for the normal person.”

Democrats have relied on massive turnout in the state's two largest cities, Milwaukee and Madison, to counter Republican strength in rural areas like Mosinee and the Milwaukee suburbs. Trump must win the votes in places like Mosinee to have any chance of cutting into the Democrats' advantage in urban areas.

Republicans held their national convention in Milwaukee in July and Trump has made four previous stops to the state, most recently just last week in the western Wisconsin city of La Crosse.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, last month filled the same Milwaukee arena where Republicans held their national convention for a rally that coincided with the Democratic National Convention just 90 miles away in Chicago. Walz returned Monday to Milwaukee, where he spoke at a Labor Day rally organized by unions.

Bauer reported from Madison and Colvin from New York. Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde gestures after speaking at a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, right, greets Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde during a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Gretchen Wilson walks off stage after speaking at a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, seen at left, at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, listens as Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde speaks during a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks behind bullet-resistant glass during a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, gestures as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Central Wisconsin Airport, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Mosinee, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks to the National Fraternal Order of Police fall meeting, Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)