Three years ago, at the Ariake Gymnastics Center in Tokyo Bay, Simone Biles She retreated to the locker room, put on a huge white bathrobe and went out to announce to the whole world that she was retiring from the Olympic Games. She was going to be the star, she had to be the star, but she could no longer be the star. With her decision she created a huge debate about mental health in elite sport, the pressure of competition, public incomprehension, even the long-term effect of sexual abuse, but she also left a huge void.
If in Munich 1972 the king was Mark Spitz; in Montreal 1976 the queen was Nadia Comaneci; in Los Angeles 1984, Carl Lewis; in Barcelona 1992, the Dream Team; in Atlanta 1996 it was Michael Johnson; and in Beijing 2008 they reigned Michael Phelps y Usain Bolt; in Tokyo 2020, Biles The throne was reserved for her. And without her, no one took her place. “I don’t want to be a star, I wasn’t born to be one,” the American swimmer once proclaimed. Caeleb Dresselwho won five medals, the most, and a few months later fell into a deep depression.
Today, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games kick off with the position of top star, legend, and emblem still vacant. Who will be the biggest star? Who knows, although the best-placed contender is back to who she was: BilesShe barely remembers it, but after her catharsis of dizziness and tears, the American gymnast signed up for the last day of competition in Tokyo to win a bronze on the balance beam, her worst apparatus, and leave a written message: “I’ll be back.”
Since then, the four-time Olympic champion at the 2016 Rio Games has undergone a healing process that included not competing for two years, going to therapy to avoid those dreaded twisties and, among other things, receive a medal of honor from the hands of Joe Biden or marry the NFL player Jonathan Owens. In mid-2023 she returned with such success that she dominated the last World Championships. Starting on Tuesday 30th – the qualification will be on Sunday – at the Bercy Arena in Paris she will find competition from other gymnasts such as the Brazilian Rebecca Andradeher friend, her training partner, but mainly she will depend on herself.
If he holds on to all the weight he has on his shoulders, he will not only win, he will reign. If he does not, there are few other candidates. In fact, the other one that stands out the most also has a woman’s name, and specifically the name of an American woman: Katie LedeckyThe swimmer has in her arms and legs a record that will remain in our memories: if she wins the three distances she will compete in, she will become the athlete with the most gold medals in the history of the Games.
Already the owner of seven, she will add 10, one more than the Ukrainian Larisa is a Latinagymnastics myth before Biles. His shyness and his absolute commitment to the long distance, the least spectacular events in swimming, are against him. At 27 years old and after 12 years in the elite – he already won a gold in London 2012 – Ledecky He has abandoned the 200 metres and the short relays to focus all his options on the 400 metres he is competing in tomorrow, the 800 metres and the 1,500 metres. There is no one in the pool with his track record, but new stars could emerge.
The local public hopes for success Leon Marchanda butterfly specialist, and in the 100-meter freestyle there will be an electric duel between the Romanian David Popovich and the Chinese Pan Zhanleboth recent world record holders. They will need to fly and exude charisma to break the boundaries of their own sport, but they could do it.
How could the sprinter do it? Noah Lyles on the tartan of the Saint Denis stadium or as has already been done Eliud Kipchogelegend whatever he or she does in the marathon. In reality, the most likely scenario is that the protagonist of the Games will again not be in athletics and swimming but in tennis, with all eyes on him or her. Carlos Alcaraz or in basketball, with another Dream Team (Lebron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid) in action and the phenomenon Victor Wembanyama in his house.
Stars are missing, someone is always missing, like the recently deceased marathon runner Kelvin Kiptumsome Russians sanctioned like the swimmer Evgeny Rylov or those who resigned, like Kylian Mbappé o Tadej PogacarBut the Olympic Games wait for no one. A throne is free and the person who will occupy it will probably be a woman.