Even Simone Biles' Balance Beam Slip Was "Superhuman," According to Her Coach

The 19-year-old gold medalist suffered her first Olympic misstep Monday night

By Samantha Schnurr Aug 16, 2016 12:56 PMTags
Simone BIlesJean Catuffe/Getty Images

Simone Biles almost took a tumble, but her recovery was equally impressive. 

With three gold medals already under her belt, the 19-year-old Olympic phenom seemed like she could do virtually no wrong this far into the 2016 Olympics—until Monday night when she stumbled for the first time since arriving in Rio de Janeiro. 

The event was the women's beam. While the Ohio native took her misstep confidently in stride, her slip landed her in third place with her first bronze medal while the Netherlands' Sanne Wevers placed first and fellow American competitor Laurie Hernandez took home the silver medal. 

Though the mistake ended Simone's chance to take home five gold medals, her coach Aimee Boorman is still impressed with her Olympian. 

"She is human, but I don't know how she made that save because both of her feet went off the beam," she told reporters after the event according to The Wall Street Journal. "I was pretty impressed with that, that seemed superhuman."

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Boorman also pointed out that Biles still won a medal at the Olympics—more than most can ever say. "I see it as a triumph, and she won a bronze medal on beam at the Olympics," Boorman concluded. "She can be proud of that."

Simone certainly looked proud, taking to Twitter and Snapchat after the competition to show off her new metal. "1st olympics - 4th olympic medal (3 gold & 1 bronze) yall aight out there ? bc I'm more than happy! Floor finals tomorrow, so excited," she tweeted to fans before sharing a selfie with her new necklace on Snapchat. 

No matter the outcome of Tuesday's gymnastics finale, dedicated fans of Sports Illustrated's "greatest" have her back through and through. "You did so amazing! You fell of the beam and still get bronze," one fan tweeted. "Only a champion could do that."

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