When is Olympic gymnastics vault final? What to know about Paris Games event
If you had fun watching American gymnast Simone Biles and Brazilian superstar Rebeca Andrade battle it out in the women's all-around competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, then you are in for a treat.
Biles, who won a gold in the all-around competition and the team event, will go head-to-head in the vault final with Andrade, who won an all-around silver behind Biles. Both women have an Olympic gold medal in the vault before and are looking to add another.
Andrade is the reigning Olympic vault champion after earning gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021, becoming the first Brazilian female gymnast to medal at the Olympics. Biles, the 2016 Olympic vault champion, withdrew from the Tokyo Games event due to "the twisties."
Biles and Andrade both faced off at the 2023 world championships in Antwerp, Belgium, which marked Biles' first major international competition since the Tokyo Olympics. Andrade edged out Biles on vault by 0.201 points to win a gold medal at the worlds after Biles fell on her signature "Biles II" Yurchenko double pike. (It's worth noting that Biles was docked a half-point for having coach Laurent Landi stand on the landing mat as a safety precaution.)
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Andrade or Biles could become just the second woman to win the Olympic vault title two times after Czechoslovakia's Vera Caslavska did so at the 1964 Tokyo Games and 1968 Mexico City Games. Caslavska is the only gymnast in Olympic history to win back-to-back gold medals on vault. Can Andrade join her?
Here's everything you need to know about the women's vault final:
When is Olympic gymnastics vault final?
The women's vault final is Saturday at 10:20 a.m. ET at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
How to watch Olympic gymnastics vault final
The women's vault final will be broadcast live on NBC, USA Network and E! Network. It can also be streamed on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com and the NBC Sports app.
Who is competing in gymnastics vault final?
Here's the eight gymnasts who qualified for the women's vault final, accompanied by their qualifying score:
Bulgaria's Valentina Georgieva (13.999)
People's Republic of Korea's An Chang-ok (14.183)
Canada's Shallon Olsen (14.166)
USA's Simone Biles (15.300)
Canada's Elsabeth Black (14.000)
Brazil's Rebeca Andrade (14.683)
South Korea's Seojeong Yeo (14.183)
USA's Jade Carey (14.433)
How does it work? Each gymnast will perform two vaults during the final. Both vaults count and will be added together. The gymnast with the highest average score for their two vaults will win gold.
Why is Jordan Chiles not in gymnastic vault final?
American gymnast Jordan Chiles finished with the fourth-highest vault score in the qualification round, but she will not compete in the event final because of the "two-per-country" rule. Only two gymnasts from each country are allowed to participate in the all-around and event finals. Chiles' teammates Simone Biles and Jade Carey finished first and third on vault in the qualification round, meaning Chiles is out.
Who is the reigning women's Olympic vault champion?
Brazil's Rebeca Andrade is the reigning Olympic vault champion. She's looking to become the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic golds in vault since Vera Caslavska (Tokyo 1964, Mexico City 1968). Here's how the final vault podium rounded out in Tokyo in 2021:
Gold: Brazil's Rebeca Andrade - 15.083
Silver: USA's Mykayla Skinner - 14.916
Bronze: South Korea's Seojeong Yeo - 14.733
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When is Olympic gymnastics vault final? What to know about Paris event
