Olympics day 10 early wrap: Biles upstaged by Andrade, Zou ‘king of parallel bars’

There were medals in gymnastics, shooting and kayaking in the early action on day 10 of the Paris Olympics on Monday:

Gymnastics: Biles upstaged by Andrade in floor final at Paris Games

Simone Biles suffered a shocking defeat in the floor exercise final at the Paris Olympics on Monday after two costly errors allowed Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade to snatch an unexpected gold medal.

Biles had to settle for a disappointing silver, while her American teammate Jordan Chiles claimed bronze.

Biles was heavily favoured coming into the final given the difficulty of her high-flying routine but landed with two feet out of bounds on two of her four tumbling passes.

She paid a heavy price for those mistakes as the deductions she incurred denied her what would have been her fourth gold medal of these Games. Andrade claimed the top prize for producing a near flawless, albeit less difficult, routine which was rewarded with a 14.166 from the judges.

Biles' routine got off to a promising start when she nailed her triple twisting double back but the power she generates during the tumbling sequences left her completely stepping out of bounds on her next attempt.

She again found herself out of the marked area on her final pass, with the errors automatically incurring her a deduction of six tenths of a point.

It left her anxiously looking up at the scoreboard and when her mark of 14.133 flashed up, she found her name below Andrade's on the standings. She lost the gold medal by just 0.033 of a point.

The final day of the artistic gymnastics programme did not end the way Biles would have wanted as she also suffered disappointment in the balance beam final, finishing fifth after slipping off that apparatus.

Despite the less than ideal finale, the Paris Games still marks a triumphant comeback for the 27-year-old Biles, who led the US to the team title and won the all-around and vault gold medals.

She withdrew from the Tokyo Games three years ago suffering with a mental block known as the “twisties” — a temporary loss of spatial awareness experienced by some gymnasts when completing high-difficulty elements.

Her withdrawal caused concern among her vast fan base about whether she would ever set foot on the Olympic stage again as Biles took a two-year break from the sport.

She returned healthy, happy and as dominant as ever as she qualified for her third Games and has not ruled out competing at the Los Angeles Games in 2028. 

Gymnastics: China's Zou, 'king of parallel bars', retains title

China's Zou Jingyuan handily beat his rivals to retain the Olympic parallel bars title on Monday, picking up his third medal of the Paris Games and giving his country a second gold in gymnastics.

The 26-year-old, nicknamed 'king of parallel bars' for his dominance on the apparatus, earned a staggering 16.200 points, head and shoulders above the rest.

“I'm super excited for this result, because coming to these Olympics, I had injuries,” he said. “I didn't really practise that much. But I went through my routine over and over again in my head, so many times.

“I had pain in my body, but coming here and seeing all the crowd supporting us has helped me a lot. It made me feel better.”

Illia Kovtun took silver with 15.500, earning Ukraine their first podium finish in the sport in Paris. Japan's Shinnosuke Oka, who won gold in the team and all-around events, took the bronze with 15.300.

Zhou maintained poise, precision and momentum throughout his performance and drew deafening cheers from the crowd as he executed a straddle front somersault.

As he continued his masterful routine, Zou kept his arms and legs fully extended and steady as a rock and he was applauded by Kovtun every time he nailed a difficult move.

After sticking his dismount, the three-times parallel bars world champion pumped his arms in the air, smiling broadly and embracing his teammate Zhang Boheng, who came in fourth. Kovtun, who will be walking away from Paris with gymnastics powerhouse Ukraine's only medal in the sport, expressed satisfaction with his second-place finish. “I am very, very happy,” he said. “It was my last chance to win a medal and I got it.”

Shooting: China's Li claims 25m rapid fire pistol gold, Italy win mixed team skeet

China's Li Yuehong won the gold in the men's 25 metres rapid fire pistol event at the Paris Olympics with a comfortable 32-25 win against silver medallist Cho Yeong-jae of South Korea.

Italy claimed the final shooting gold of the Games in the mixed team skeet final as Gabriele Rossetti and Diana Bacosi secured a 45-44 win against fancied American pair Vincent Hancock and Austen Smith.

China won the bronze in that event after Jiang Yiting combined with Lyu Jianlin for a 44-43 win against the Indian pair of Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka.

It was a China one-two in the men's rapid fire pistol qualification round and the trend continued as Li and bronze medallist Wang Xinjie started off with a perfect five-from-five in the final.

Korea's Cho managed to sandwich himself between the Chinese pair but world record holder Li, whose Paris preparations included two weeks training with the military in December, ran away with the gold.

It was a stellar display by Li, who said he did not initially like the sport.

“I did not think I had any talent but my parents told me to stick to it,” he said. “My teammates also encouraged me along the way.”

Cho said his pistol was “not perfect”, which put him under time pressure, but he was happy to medal in his Olympic debut.

A perfect sixth series earned Li a two-point lead and the 34-year-old capitalised on it to win his first Olympic gold after taking bronze in the last two Games.

Compatriot Wang beat Germany's Florian Peter in a shoot-off to make the podium. 

Canoeing: Australian Fox, NZ's Butcher win first kayak cross golds

Australia's Noemie Fox followed in her sister's footsteps to pick up the Olympic gold medal in women's kayak cross on Monday, with Finn Butcher of New Zealand winning the men's event.

Fox's sister Jessica secured the first two golds in canoe and kayak slalom on the whitewater course, and her younger sibling made it a family affair when she came out on top in a thrilling decider.

Angele Hug took silver for France and British world number one Kimberley Woods took silver, the first Olympic medals to be handed out in the discipline as it made its debut at the Paris Games.

“I think I’m in shock, I was just so happy to make it through the semifinal, that was my goal, now just go and enjoy it. Its insane, it’s so much fun. Today just went to perfection, I enjoyed every second,” Fox told reporters.

In the men's race, top-ranked Briton Joe Clarke had to be content with silver after getting caught up in traffic early on, allowing Kiwi Butcher to move ahead, where he stayed until he crossed the finish line.

“It's crazy. I don't believe it yet. Once I got out in front and turned in front, I was like, 'no way'. Those guys are so good. I'm proud to be the champion. The first one — that's pretty sick,” an elated Butcher said.

Germany's Noah Hegge came third to take the bronze in what was a very successful debut for cross racing, where racers drop into the water together and paddle frenetically through a series of downstream and upstream gates as fast as they can.

Hug's silver aside, it was a disappointing day for the French with Camille Prigent eliminated at the quarterfinal stage before teenager Titouan Castryck was sensationally knocked out, despite finishing first in his race.

With the first two in each race going through to the semis, the 19-year-old kayak slalom silver medallist cruised over the line in first place but was bumped down to third after judges decided he failed to pass the third of 10 gates on the course correctly. 

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