A hushed arena may have played a factor in a shaky balance beam final for Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee and a handful of other event finalists on Monday.
Biles, Lee, Brazil’s Julia Soares and Romania’s Sabrina Maneca-Voinea all fell during their routines inside Bercy Arena, where no music was played and some fans hushed others for making noise while the athletes were up. Italy’s Alice D’Amato barely wobbled, by comparison, on her way to gold.
“We were just talking about how annoying it was to be shushed,” Lee said.
There is typically a wall of sound during meets that can serve as background noise to the athletes, who have learned to tune it out long ago, including during qualifying, team finals and all-around finals during the Paris Games.
The atmosphere has changed during individual event finals when the music has been turned off while the athletes are competing. Nowhere is that more noticeable than on the beam, a four-inch wide piece of wood four feet off the ground that requires intense concentration.
While some in a crowd that included American football great Tom Brady offered support during the routines, many also told others to quiet, making a typically boisterous atmosphere sound more like a golf tournament.
Lee and Biles, both of whom slipped at the end of their acrobatic series, couldn’t help but notice. They commiserated afterwards.
“The pressure was definitely on,” Lee said. “I don’t know if you could tell, but a lot of people were definitely feeling it.
“I think it was the crowd but also just knowing that we’re so close to being done and just adding that extra stress of wanting to end it off the right way.”
The 21-year-old six-time Olympic medallist joked that she wondered if thesea of photographers a few feet away could hear her breathing.
“It adds to the stress, just because it’s like you, yes, you’re the only one up there,” said Lee, who scored 13.1, the same as Biles. “So, I was feeling the pressure.”