Simone Biles nabs third gold medal in vault
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Simone Biles' golden run in Rio is picking up steam.
The 19-year-old superstar added a third gold medal to her haul on Sunday, easily capturing the women's vault final. Biles, who helped the "Final Five" to team gold and also dominated the all-around competition last week, averaged 15.966 on her two vaults on Sunday to become the first American woman to win the event at the Olympics.
Russia's Maria Paseka edged Switzerland's Guilia Steingruber for silver, more than .7 behind Biles, showcasing the gap between Biles and the rest of the world.
Going last among the eight female finalists, Biles drilled her Amanar - a round off onto the block followed by 2 twists - and put up a 15.9 to take the lead. Needing only to land her second vault to win, Biles was near perfect. Her score of 16.033 for her "Cheng" was the best of the night.
Biles' three golds in Rio are also the most by a female gymnast from the U.S. in one Olympics. She will get a chance to grab even more gold when she competes in the uneven bars finals and the floor exercise finals later this week.
India's Dipa Karmakar made history by being the first female gymnast from her country to compete in the Olympics and make an event final by finishing fourth. Oksana Chusovitina's seventh trip to the Olympics ended with a seventh-place finish for the 41-year-old from Uzbekistan.
Max Whitlock became the first gymnast from Great Britain to win Olympic gold by edging Brazil's Diego Hypolito in the men's floor exercise final. Whitlock's score of 15.633 was just enough to edge Hypolito, who finished with a 15.533.
Arthur Mariano of Brazil earned bronze for the host country.
American Sam Mikulak finished eighth, his routine disrupted by an explosion from the rowdy crowd inside Rio Olympic Arena, which burst into applause when Mikulak - going last - made a mistake to assure the Brazilians of two medals.
Mikulak said he "got pretty rattled" by the noise.
