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The U.S. women's gymnastics team, led by Simone Biles, drew a select group of celebrity fans to the 2024 Olympics in Paris on Sunday.
Biles competed in the women's qualifying on Sunday, July 28 despite an injury, and still posted top scores on floor and vault that are unlikely to be surpassed throughout the rest of qualifying.
Some notable faces in the crowd included Tom Cruise, as fans rushed up to him in the arena to take selfies and offer some handshakes.
Actress and producer Jessica Chastain sat across from Vogue's Anna Wintour, who was with Elvis director Baz Luhrmann.
Lady Gaga was also present after her performance during the opening ceremony.
She posted a video of Biles on Instagram while she was on the beam with text on the screen that read: “She did 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. 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, along with his wife Chrissy Teigen, chatting together.
While Barbie Director Greta Gerwig sat opposite Tom Cruise.
Former American snowboarder and skater Shaun White was also in the audience along with his girlfriend and The Vampire Diaries Student, Nina Dobrev.
Biles competed in the team qualification alongside American teammates Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Sunisa Lee and Jade Carey. It was her first competitive appearance in Paris, where she will attempt to add to her already impressive tally of seven Olympic medals. The Olympian has already begun to set milestones, as she is only the fourth American woman to compete at a third Olympic Games and, at the age of 27, is the oldest American gymnast to compete at the Olympics in 72 years, while she is also currently tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast.
Her return to the Games comes after previously competing at both the Rio 2016 Games and the Tokyo 2020 Games. However, she had to withdraw from most of the 2020 competitions due to a case of “twisties”, which is a temporary loss of air awareness when performing twisting elements.
“The brain no longer communicates with the body, they change the movement, they lose their place,” explained American coach Landi in the first part of Biles’ recent Netflix documentary, titled Simone Biles: On the rise“Most of the time it’s not related to gymnastics.”
“I knew from that moment,” Biles said, reflecting on her performance in Tokyo. “I felt silent. I felt like I was in a prison in my own brain and body.”
This year, the Olympian competed with a calf injury, after being seen limping on her left ankle. Although U.S. 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 keep her off the field.
“I can’t express it,” Landi said. “I’m so proud of her and everything she’s been through and what she’s showing the world what she’s capable of.”
Biles earned a total score of 59.566 and the Americans scored 172.296.
All Olympic events are available to watch on cable at NBC, USA Network or E! The Olympics are also available to stream on Peacock.
