Team USA gymnastics earns gold in Olympic women’s team final: Highlights

Few athletes have weathered more cataclysmic shifts in their sport than Biles. Eleven years after she won her first world championship, she reflected on how the sport has evolved throughout her career.

"They used to try to put us on in a box. And they were like if you weren't like this, then you're not going to be successful," she said at a news conference after the meet.

"Now we can show off our personalities," Biles added. "Really have fun but then also know that once we get on the floor, we’re going to put in work, and we’re going to show the results. We don’t have to be put in a box anymore."

She credited the positive culture shift in the sport with lengthening gymnasts' careers, including her own. At 27, she is the oldest U.S. Olympic gymnast in 72 years.

It's tradition for the U.S. to give its gymnastics teams for the Olympics alliterative names.

In 2021, it was the "Fighting Four." In 2016, it was the "Final Five." And in 2012, it was the "Fierce Five."

At a news conference after the U.S.' triumphant return to the top of the podium, Aly Raisman, who led the Fierce Five and the Final Five to gold as the team captain, asked Biles what the 2024 team was called.

"Um ... I'm not going to say it," Biles said, looking at her teammates for help.

"Just abbreviate it!" They urged her.

After a brief sidebar and some whispers with her teammates, Biles revealed the name.

"F around ... and find out," Biles said, prompting the room to crack up.

NBC News has been keeping track of Biles' record-breaking medal haul, but it's the last thing on the GOAT's mind.

"I don't keep count; I don't keep stats," Biles said. "I just go out here and do what I'm supposed to, and I'm doing what I love and enjoying it."

"Honestly, I would have had to Google that," she said when asked about becoming the most decorated U.S. gymnast in Olympic history.

She added, "I don't think I'll truly understand the depth of it until I walk away from the sport." Biles has yet to announce whether the Paris Games will be her last.

Biles' Tokyo "twisties" first struck during the 2021 team final on vault. Today, Biles said, she started her day with therapy to hold any bad memories at bay.

"After I finished vault, I was relieved," Biles said. "No flashbacks or anything, but I did feel a lot of relief. And as soon as I landed vault, I was like, 'Oh, yeah, we're definitely going to do this.'"

Today's medal is Biles' fifth Olympic gold, and it comes eight years after her last one at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

"I think in 2016, we were destined to win gold. ... We were a little young and naive. So it didn’t hit the way that it does now," Biles said after today's final. "Now that I'm much older, we have so much more experience, and we're out here really having fun and enjoying what we're doing, so I think it's just different."

Defending all-around gold medalist Suni Lee stuck the landing of her uneven bars routine, helping the U.S. return to the top of the medal podium once again.

Lee fell on her first skill on uneven bars during warmups, leaving spectators on the edges of their seats for the real thing.

She pulled it off without a hitch, flying high and sticking the landing.

Team USA is basking in the gold medal glory of winning the team event earlier today, followed by Italy and Brazil, who are also thrilled to have spots on the Olympic podium.

It's their redemption tour, and Biles said she "couldn't be more proud" of her fellow U.S. women's gymnastics teammates.

The team, made up of Biles, Lee, Chiles, Carey and Rivera, just won gold in the team final.

Biles said ahead of the final, the team was "bumping music" but once they got to the Bercy Arena, "we all knew what the job was."

"We've all put in the work, mentally and physically, so for it to show out there and for us to come together meant the world to all of us," Biles told “TODAY” show host Hoda Kotb. "So, yeah, we did it."

Chiles told Kotb she was ready to "just have a party" ahead of the event, adding that she was thinking, "I'm just going to go out there and do what I know."

Chiles teared up as she finished her floor routine, her last of the day, and again on the podium while she was accepting her gold medal. “It was definitely an experience, and the tears were all joy,” she said.

Lee said their gold medal finish was "super exciting" and that it's the "best time" she's had with the Olympic team, pointing to the lack of a crowd at the Tokyo Games because of Covid.

Carey only hit the vault today, and she told Kotb before she exploded down the runway, she told herself "to be normal."

"That was exactly what this team needed me to do," she said. "Just do my normal vault."

Rivera, the youngest on the team at 16, did not compete in the team final today, but still earned a medal as a team member who competed in qualifiers.

She said wearing a gold medal around her neck is "surreal."

"This team has worked so hard and I'm so proud of how far we've come because we put in all the work," she said.