SLATE goes with, "Au Revoir to the Double Pike?" The women's vault final on Saturday saw Simone Biles win her seventh Olympic gold, but to do that she "had to bring out the biggest guns she had." For years, fans have seen Biles "push the difficulty of the sport of gymnastics beyond its conceivable borders over and over again for one reason and one reason only: because she can." Nobody on Earth "needed her to learn, much less compete, a triple double on floor, but she did." There is "still no dispute that Simone Biles is the greatest gymnast in history," but at the Paris Games she "got to cap off an inimitable career by fending off some real competition for once, competing at full difficulty not just because she can, but because she must."
On the Olympics:
- An Olympian undertaking: How many events can you get to in a single day?
- Champagne, Soft Piano and No Lines: Luxe Life at the Olympics.
- After U.S.’s shocking Olympic medal, will rugby be next big thing in women’s sports?
Also:
- As USC, UCLA officially join Big Ten, emails show dismay, shock and anger around move.
- The retirement home for NFL players that never was.
- This basketball coach wants to sell his program for $100M.
- Sean and Erin McDonough lead drive to eradicate the disease that took their father.
