TOKYO, Japan — Every Olympics, women’s gymnastics is one of the top sports to watch. Team USA has for decades now been consistently stepping up on the podium to accept a medal. One of the most closely watched events is the individual all-around competition.
We answered some of the most common questions as the world prepares to watch the big event unfold in Tokyo – without the top competitor, Simone Biles, on the floor.
What is the individual all-around competition?
There are two all-around competitions: individual and team. The women’s team competition includes four gymnasts. They each perform on all of the events (floor exercise, uneven bars, balance beam and vault). Scores are totaled together and the top three teams earn medals.
The individual all-around competition is similar, except gymnasts perform on their own against each other. Each athlete’s individual score is added up and the three highest scores receive gold, silver and bronze medals.
Who qualifies?
Once arriving at the Olympics, gymnasts from each country compete in the all-around qualification round. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifying round took place on Sunday, July 25 with 85 women entering the competition – 80 of them finished.
Individual scores from each of the events are totaled with 24 women moving on to the all-around final.
However, the top 24 finishers don’t necessarily advance to the finals.
That’s because of the International Gymnastics Federation’s two-per-country rule, which states no more than two gymnasts per country can advance to an individual finals.
During the 2020 Summer Games, five women from Team USA finished in the top 24:
- Simone Biles (1st)
- Suni Lee (3rd)
- Jade Carey (9th)
- MyKayla Skinner (11th)
- Grace McCallum (13th)
Biles and Lee automatically advanced to the all-around since they were the top two finishers. When Biles announced she was withdrawing from the competition, Carey automatically advanced in, since she was next up in the top 24.
The two-per rule has kept other Americans out of the competition in past Games. At the 2012 London Olympics, Aly Raisman (2nd) and Gabby Douglas (3rd) advanced. Teammate Jordyn Wieber – a favorite to win the whole thing – was right behind Douglas in fourth place but was left out of the competition. Douglas won gold.
Four years later in Rio, Douglas fell victim to the two-per rule after Biles and Raisman qualified first and second place. Douglas finished third, and even though she outperformed 22 other women during the qualifying round, she was left out.
How to watch the women’s gymnastics all-around competition?
The all-around competition was livestreamed Thursday morning in the U.S. See the results here. If you want to try to avoid any spoilers or see how it all shook out even though you know who won, NBC will be airing a replay of the competition Thursday, July 29 beginning at 7 p.m. CST.
5 On Your Side is your home in St. Louis for complete 2020 Tokyo Olympics coverage. See the links below for the latest updates.
RELATED: Download the 5 On Your Side Roku and Amazon Fire apps to watch live newscasts and video on demand
For the rest of the Games, Your STL Lunch Break newsletter will be all about Team USA! Make sure you sign up for Your STL Lunch Break for updates on the Tokyo Olympics this week through the end of the games!
The Olympics editions of Your STL Lunch Break will give you the biggest moments from Tokyo with a focus on the athletes from the region including Tyler Downs, DeAnna Price, Becky Sauerbrunn, Gwen Berry, Jayson Tatum and more!
After the games are over, you will still get Your STL Lunch Break with news that is focused on you.