At the Games: Simone Biles to compete in beam final

“We are so excited to confirm that you will see two U.S. athletes in the balance beam final tomorrow – Suni Lee AND Simone Biles!! Can’t wait to watch you both!” USA Gymnastics said in a statement.

It will be the first time the American will be seen competing in Tokyo following her withdrawal from last Tuesday’s women’s team final after her opening vault, citing mental health issues.

The 24-year-old American, who won four golds at the 2016 Rio Games, dropped out of the all-around, floor exercise, vault and asymmetric bars finals.

Biles is the reigning world champion on the beam and picked up an Olympic bronze on the apparatus in Rio.

Biles has suffered a crisis of confidence in Tokyo as she dealt with the “twisties” — where gymnasts are disoriented during their gravity-defying sequences.

“It’s honestly petrifying trying to do a skill but not having your mind & body in sync,” Biles explained in an Instagram story, in which she answered fan questions and shared practice videos.

While a number of difficult acrobatic skills have to be performed on the beam, fast-paced tumbling and aerial twisting maneuvers are limited on the apparatus, hence providing Biles with the opportunity to add to the team silver medal she picked up last week.

Despite not competing, Biles has been a constant presence at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre over the past week to support her U.S. teammates. Biles cheered on Sunisa Lee, who succeeded her as Olympic all-around champion, and Mykayla Skinner, who stepped in for her in women’s vault final on Sunday and won silver.

Carey continues women’s gymnastics success with gold

American Jade Carey produced a series of high-flying tumbling combinations to win gold on the floor exercise at the Tokyo Games on Monday, while Mai Murakami became the first Japanese woman to win an individual Olympic gymnastics medal.

The absence of 2016 floor champion Biles from the final due to mental health struggles had left the field wide open and Carey made the most of her opportunity to grab gold with a score of 14.366 points.

The win allowed Carey to heal her dented pride after she finished last among the eight competitors in Monday’s vault final.

Italian Vanessa Ferrari, a world all around champion in 2006, finally got her hands on an Olympic medal at the age of 30 when she claimed silver with 14.200.

Murakami and Angelina Melnikova of the Russian Olympic committee both won bronze with identical scores of 14.166.

US hoops holds on against France

The United States on Monday clinched a top seed in the quarterfinals of Olympic women’s basketball, beating a game French team who squeaked through to the next round.

Packed with WNBA talent, Team USA completed a 3-0 sweep of Group B in the preliminary stage with the 93-82 victory at the Saitama Super Arena, north of Tokyo. France, now 1-2, will still move on to the knockout stage on Wednesday based on points differences with other third-place teams.

France fought back to briefly retake the lead in the fourth quarter until buckets by A’ja Wilson and Tina Charles put the Americans solidly back in charge.

Missing Thompson, US volleyball tops Italy

The United States defeated Italy in a see-saw five-set battle at the Ariake Arena on Monday to finish on top in Pool B of the women’s volleyball preliminaries, overcoming the absence of injured ace spiker Jordan Thompson and another injury.

Thompson, who sat out the match after spraining her ankle on Saturday, watched as setter Jordyn Poulter suffered the same injury during the third set and was taken off the court in a wheelchair.

The world number-one team eventually prevailed in the close match, winning 21-25 25-16 25-27 25-16 15-12, and moving on to the quarterfinals.

U.S. opposite Andrea Drews led the way with 22 points while four others finished in double figures.