By Rory Carroll
PARIS (Reuters) – Simone Biles is doing well and was back at practice on Monday, a day after the American made a triumphant return to the Olympic stage despite being hobbled by pain in her left calf, her mother Nellie told NBC’s Today Show.
The four-times Olympic champion left the competition area on Sunday after performing on her first apparatus, the balance beam, but returned to complete her routines on the floor exercise, vault and uneven bars with her left leg and ankle wrapped at the qualifying session.
Despite the nagging pain, Biles was dominant, leading the U.S. to a huge win in team qualifying while also qualifying first in the all-around before an ecstatic, star-studded crowd at the Bercy Arena.
“Last night was, oh my God — epic,” Nellie Biles said.
“I mean the energy in the stadium was unbelievable. The girls did such a wonderful job and you couldn’t ask for anything better.”
She added she felt “relieved” after the team’s performance, and that she had spoken to her daughter, who said she was doing well and heading to practice on Monday morning.
Biles is leading a U.S. team on a self-described redemption tour after Biles abruptly pulled out from the team final at the Tokyo Games suffering from the “twisties”, a term used to describe the temporary loss of spatial awareness while performing high-difficulty elements.
The U.S. are heavy favourites to win gold in the team final on Tuesday.
(Additional reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto and Karen Braun in Paris; Editing by Alison Williams)
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