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Louise Thomas
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The US women’s gymnastics team, led by Simone Biles, drew a who’s-who of famous fans to the 2024 Olympics in Paris on Sunday.
Biles competed in the Women’s Qualification on Sunday July 28 through an injury, and still set the highest scores on the floor and vault that are unlikely to be beaten throughout the remainder of qualifying.
Some notable faces in the audience included Tom Cruise as fans ran up to him in the arena to take selfies and provide a few hand shakes.
Actor and producer Jessica Chastain sat right in front of Vogue’s Anna Wintour, who was with Elvis director Baz Luhrmann.
Lady Gaga was also in attendance after her performance during the opening ceremony.
She posted a video of Biles on Instagram while on the beam with text on the screen reading, “She nailed it, what an honor to be so close!”
Another famous singer, Snoop Dogg was sitting in the front row as he is currently working at the Paris Olympics as a special correspondent for NBC Sports.
Wicked co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo sat next to each other, along with The Chi creator Lena Waithe and Anna Wintour.
Musicians were out in force with Nick Jonas and John Legend, alongside his wife Chrissy Teigen, chatting together
While Barbie director Greta Gerwig sat front in front of Tom Cruis
Former US snowboarder and skateboarder Shaun White was in the audience as well alongside his girlfriend and The Vampire Diaries alum, Nina Dobrev.
Biles competed in the team’s qualifying alongside US teammates Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Sunisa Lee and Jade Carey. It was her first competitive appearance in Paris, where she will try to add to her already impressive tally of seven Olympic medals. The Olympian has already begun to set milestones as she is both the fourth American woman to compete in a third Olympic games and, at the age of 27, she is the oldest American gymnast to compete at the Olympics in 72 years, while also currently being tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals earned by a US gymnast.
Her return to the games comes after she previously competed in both the 2016 Rio games and the 2020 games in Tokyo. However, she needed to withdraw from most of the 2020 competitions due to a case of the “twisties,” which is a temporary loss of air awareness while performing twisting elements.
“The brain no longer communicates with the body, they change the move, lose their place,” US women’s coach Landi explained in part one of Biles’ recent Netflix documentary, titled Simone Biles: Rising. “Most of the time it’s unrelated to gymnastics.”
“I knew from that one moment,” Biles confessed, reflecting on her Tokyo performance. “To me it felt silent. I felt like I was in jail in my own brain and body.”
This year, the Olympian competed with a calf injury after being seen limping on her left ankle. Although US coach Cecile Landi explained at the time that the injury had only been bothering Biles for a couple of weeks and was considered minor. Landi added that there were no plans to have her sitting on the sidelines.
“I can’t express it,” Landi said. “I’m really proud of her and what she’s been through and what she’s showing the world what she’s capable of doing.”
Biles posted an all-around total score of 59.566 and the Americans scored a 172.296.
All Olympic events are available to watch via cable on NBC, USA Network, or E! The Olympics are also available to stream on Peacock.
