Here’s who joins Simone Biles in the final after the U.S. women’s gymnastics team clashed

The US women’s gymnastics team qualified for Tuesday’s team final at the Tokyo Olympics in second place more than a point behind Russia. The good news: if they fix out of bounds steps and unusually shaped breaks on bars and off-beams, they’ve got the routines to win.

The real drama in Sunday’s qualifying, however, was the competition going on for Team USA. Due to the so-called “two par” rule, a maximum of two gymnasts from each country can qualify for the all-around and event finals held later in the Games. Only 24 gymnasts qualify for the all-around final, and the top eight on each apparatus qualify for the event final.

To underline the tragedy: if an American gymnast finishes third in the world during the qualifications – but also third in the United States – she misses her shot. (Who can forget reigning all-around world champion Jordyn Wieber who missed the 2012 Olympic all-around final after finishing third in the world in qualifying behind teammates Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas?)

Simone Biles’ teammates knew ahead of Sunday’s meeting that she would likely win one of two American places in the all-around and the four finals per event. The only doubt was the uneven bars, which he initially seemed to miss.

Due to the two-per-country rule, although the Russian Olympic Committee has qualified its first two for the finals, its athletes who finished fifth and sixth on uneven bars cannot compete. This allowed Biles, who finished tenth overall but second among American athletes, to a place in the final.

So who got the remaining individual places for the United States?

All around

Ahead of the Games, it looked like Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles would be fighting for second behind Biles, as they have been doing all season. But Chiles, a boulder at the US Nationals and Trials, suffered a major break in form on bars, fell off the beam and was sixth of six American gymnasts. Lee supported her performance in the trials and will compete for the Olympic title alongside Biles, who will seek to become the first gymnast to repeat her Olympic all-around champion title since Věra Čáslavská in 1968.

Ground

American women are stacked on the floor exercise, and second place was up to anyone. But it was the individual qualifier Jade Carey that advanced to the floor final and let fans know that more was yet to come. Carey submitted a new skill she plans to debut in Tokyo, a triple-twist double layout, but saved it on Sunday night. If she competes in the skill, she will bear her name and achieve the highest difficulty score in both men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics.

To jump

When vault specialist MyKayla Skinner was selected in the top spot for the United States, the biggest question on everyone’s mind was whether she would be able to outdo Carey, another powerhouse. of the safe that rivals the same drawn on a medal. Sadly, Carey finished three-tenths of a point ahead of Skinner and just 0.017 behind Biles, who failed to execute his much-publicized Yurchenko double pike, choosing to keep it for the team final or all-around. As for Skinner, not being a member of the US four-woman team and not qualifying for an individual event, her Olympic competition ended Sunday night.

Asymmetric bars

Suni Lee’s uneven bars routine might be the one thing talked about as much as Biles’ groundbreaking safe. And it lived up to the hype on Sunday night. Lee was the only athlete to score a point in the 15 and took first place in the United States in next Sunday’s final; Biles joins her because of the two-country rule.

Beam

For the second time on Sunday night, Lee was America’s top athlete, finishing 0.0134 ahead of Biles, who took three steps after his full outing.

In all, three American athletes – Biles, Lee and Carey – qualified to compete for individual medals.