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2016 Rio Olympics Women’s Gymnastics Individual All-Around Final: Simone Biles and Aly Raisman Come Out on Top

5:38 p.m. ET: When Martha gave Simone a giant hug, she called her “a force of nature!” 

US gymnast Simone Biles and her compatiot Alexandra Raisman celebrate after the women's individual all-around final of the Artistic Gymnastics at the Olympic Arena during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 11, 2016.
US gymnast Simone Biles and her compatiot Alexandra Raisman celebrate after the women’s individual all-around final of the Artistic Gymnastics at the Olympic Arena during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 11, 2016.

5:21 p.m. ET: Aly and Simone got their medals, silver and gold, respectively, and they look so happy as the National Anthem plays. They are on top of the world! Both were more emotional tonight than they were at Tuesday’s event.

5:20 p.m. ET: Simone and Aly are sharing a smile while Aliya accepts her bronze medal.

5:11 p.m. ET: All the non-competing girls in the Final Five are being swarmed for autographs and pictures.

5:05 p.m. ET: Our team’s alternates, Ashton Locklear, Ragan Smith and MyKayla Skinner, are in the audience taking photos with a delighted Martha. Everyone is hugging and congratulating Martha. What a legacy to go out on!

Simone Biles (L) of the United States waits for the score after competing on the floor with Alexandra Raisman
Simone Biles (L) of the United States waits for the score after competing on the floor with Alexandra Raisman

5:05 p.m. ET: Aly and Simone are sharing the cutest, sweetest hug as they wait for Simone’s score: an outstanding 15.933! Simone is blowing kisses to the audience and the applause just will not stop for her and Aly. 

5:04 p.m. ET: Simone SLAYED her routine! The crowd went wild and everyone jumped to their feet to applaud her once she finished. She ran to hug Aimee and Aly waited to hug her. Aly looks so proud of Simone and herself!

US gymnast Simone Biles and her compatiot Alexandra Raisman celebrate after the women's individual all-around final of the Artistic Gymnastics at the Olympic Arena during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 11, 2016.
US gymnast Simone Biles and her compatiot Alexandra Raisman celebrate after the women’s individual all-around final of the Artistic Gymnastics at the Olympic Arena during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on August 11, 2016.

5:01 p.m. ET: Aly got a 15.433, better than Tuesday. She couldn’t stop staring at her score! Mihai came up behind her after she stopped staring so they could hug again. Now it’s time for Simone to officially get her gold on floor.

5:00 p.m. ET: Aly came off and started crying. She knows she won that silver medal. Mihai’s hug with her was all-knowing too. The crowd was going wild for Aly and she was waving at everyone, lapping it all up.

4:54 p.m. ET: Rebecca Andrade’s Beyonce music is making the crowd go wild. There must be nothing better than competing in your home country!

4:53 p.m. ET: Russia’s Seda Gurgenovna Tutkhalyan, who could be considered Aly’s next top competition after Aliya, just fell during her floor and got a 10.966, so no competition there. We’ve come a long way from the Nadia Comaneci days — a 10 is no good today!

4:51 p.m. ET: Aly needs at least a 14 in floor to beat her top competition for the silver medal. Obviously things can happen, but Aly’s got that.

4:49 p.m. ET: Aliya just got a 13.933 on floor. If Aly does what she did on Tuesday and score close to the 15.366 she got in team finals, she will comfortably beat her.

4:46 p.m. ET: The difference between Aly and Aliya is less than .1 points. Let’s not forget they tied for bronze in 2012 in this event and the tiebreaker ended up with Aliya winning the bronze and Aly in 4th.

4:42 p.m. ET: Aly submitted an inquiry into her balance beam score, but it was rejected.

4:41 p.m. ET: So nice to see the three non-competing members of the Final Five giggling so hard while they wait to cheer Simone and Aly on in the floor!

4:38 p.m. ET: Gabby, Laurie and Madison are posing for photos in the audience with fans. Sidenote: Whatever Laurie is saying to Gabby is making her laugh hysterically.

4:35 p.m. ET: It’s VERY close between Aliya and Aly. Aly is going to remind Aliya why she is the reigning Olympic floor champion.Bela Karolyi is sitting with Marta, concentrating very hard as the girls warm up. Aly is such a pro on the floor, as seen in her warmup.

4:33 p.m. ET: Aly gets a 14.866 and she slides into 3rd place after the third rotation. Simone is in first and Aliya is in second. Floor will close out the competition and Aly is known for her insane floor skills. We see silver in her future still!

4:31 p.m. ET: The hug Aly had with Mihai after beam was so cute — followed by a smiley hug from Simone! Martha is sitting in the audience with Laurie, Madison and Gabby, who are decked out in Team USA gear.

4:28 p.m. ET: Time for Aly to show them how it’s done and get back to second place. She is eager to get on that beam and we are eager to watch her. Why do beam scores take so long? (She can’t get up until the last beam score is announced.)

4:20 p.m. ET: Aliya gets a 13.866 on beam, so she can say goodbye to that first place spot and Simone can go back to where she belongs.

4:11 p.m. ET: Simone caught her breath as she waited for her great score: 15.433

4:09 p.m. ET: The announcers here are comparing Simone’s beam routine to something you’d see on the floor. This is why she is the best gymnast in the world.

4:08 p.m. ET: Simone’s dismount is perfection and her smile says she knows it. Even the announcer is noticing how great her smile is!

4:07 p.m. ET: Simone just wobbled on the beam. It’s not as big of a deduction as it seems, but it made the Team USA fans in the stadium very nervous.

4:05 p.m. ET: Coach Aimee is giving Simone a last-minute pep talk while she’s on the beam. If Aly’s routine goes as well as her quick warmup, we feel pretty hopeful.

4:04 p.m. ET: Simone is looking confident and like she’s ready for another win as she warms up on beam!

4:01 p.m. ET: A worker on the floor just bumped into Aly. It was nothing but, c’mon, watch out!

3:58 p.m. ET: We end bars with the 3rd (Simone) and 4th (Aly) best scores in our group of six.

3:57 p.m. ET: Aly is practicing splits in the air while she waits for rotation three. And Jade Barbosa has officially removed herself from competition. So sad! She is getting a giant round of applause from the crowd for her efforts.

3:55 p.m. ET: Bars aren’t Aly and Simone’s strongest event. The Russians have moved into first and third for the moment.

3:45 p.m. ET: WHOA! Aliya Mustafina did incredible on bars and got a 15.666. She has temporarily placed herself ahead of Simone Biles.

3:49 p.m. ET: Brazil’s obsession Jade Barbosa just hit the floor and had a little fall and the audience let out a collective gasp. Jade looks to be in extreme pain and has cut her floor routine short to seek medical attention. The Brazil crowd cheered her name as she hobbled off the floor.

3:49 p.m. ET: We’re halfway done with the bar rotation and Aly and Simone still have the best scores among some pretty good competitors, including Russia’s Aliya Mustafina and Seda Tutkhalian and Rebecca Andrade of Brazil (who was in third at the end of the first rotation).

3:45 p.m. ET: Still early in the second rotation, but Simone and Aly are holding onto the first and second spots. Simone has a combined score of 30.832 and Aly has a 29.799. Elissa Downie of Great Britain is close to Aly with a 29.4, but beams and floor are where we still see Aly really shine.

3:44 p.m. ET: Simone just received a 14.966 for her performance! 

3:43 p.m. ET: Simone looks pretty pleased with herself and she hasn’t even gotten her score yet. 

3:42 p.m. ET: Bars may be Simone’s “weakest event” but she nailed it today!

3:41 p.m. ET: Aimee is giving Simone a few last words before she gets up on bars and they exchange a smile.

3:40 p.m. ET: Aly seemed a little nervous the moment she got on uneven bars, but she looked awesome up there. Now that her uneven bars experience at the Olympics is over, we’re sure her parents are relieved.

3:38 p.m. ET: Mihai and Aimee are making sure the uneven bars are ready for Aly. I can only imagine how nervous her parents are!

3:34 p.m. ET: Everyone in the audience is holding their flags up high and waving them! American flags are definitely second to Brazilian flags in the arena. 

3:32 p.m. ET: Rotation 1 is finally done and Simone is officially in first, with Aly in second.

3:31 p.m. ET: The lowest score in rotation one is from Netherlands’ Lieke Wevers, who got 13.066 on beam, just to give you some comparison to how amazing our athletes are compared to the competition. It makes us even more frustrated with the the two-per-country rule. Coach Aimee Boorman told Us Sunday the best should be competing in this, and we are confident that Gabby Douglas would have done very well in the event. Very frustrating, but she’s had a great attitude about it.

3:26 p.m. ET: Aly’s hands are wrapped for bars, she’s hydrated and she’s ready to go! With just a few more competitions on other apparatuses still to go, Simone is in first, Aly in second. Much to the crowd’s happiness, Brazilian Rebecca Andrade is in third.

3:23 p.m. ET: Aly really loves to walk around while she’s waiting to compete.

3:18 p.m. ET: Aly is checking out her competition, leaned up against the podium (that’s where all the different apparatuses are on — not the medal podium), seeing how they stack up against Team USA.

3:16 p.m. ET: The vault rotation is over — Aly and Simone are ahead of the 4 other women in their rotation group. Yay!

3:15 p.m. ET: Chinese gymnast Yan Wang followed Simone on vault. It’s pretty crazy comparing the height Yan gets versus how high Simone gets.

3:13 p.m. ET: We’re still very early in the rotation, but Simone and Aly already have the highest scores. Team USA is dreaming of a 1-2 finish!

3:11 p.m. ET: Simone also hops at the end of her vault. Her starting value is so high though, it probably doesn’t even matter. She flies through the air on vault and the crowd loves her … 15.866 for Simone’s vault. Nice!

3:10 p.m. ET: 15.633 for Aly on the vault.

3:08 p.m. ET: There is so much to look at! Athletes are on all four apparatuses at once. I wonder if it’s distracting when you hear applause in the middle of your routine for another competitor. 

3:02 p.m. ET: It’s probably nothing to her, but the ease with which Aly can basically touch her nose to her knees amazes Us. She is antsy to get warmed up on vault! Simone’s height on her warm up vault is just incredible.

3:01 p.m. ET: Simone sees a friend in the audience while other gymnasts are being announced. She waves and shows Aly who she is pointing too. Simone keeps waving, she looks so excited!

2:59 p.m. ET: While the girls are all being introduced, Aly is making sure to stay warmed up, doing stretches and calf raises before the official 30-second vault warmup she will get.

2:57 p.m. ET: The girls are out on the floor! Aly is in a sparkly red leotard and Simone is rocking a sparkly red, white and blue leotard. Martha Karoly’s mission is accomplished: Aly and Simone are like disco balls with all their sparkles. We love it!

Original story below:

Let’s get it, girls! The women’s gymnastics individual final of the 2016 Rio Olympics starts on Thursday, August 11, at 3 p.m. ET, as Team USA’s captain Aly Raisman and fan favorite Simone Biles will be competing to up their medal count.

Related: PHOTOS: Olympic Athletes: Where Are They Now?

Raisman, 22, and Biles, 19, who won gold with their Final Five teammates, Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian, in the team all-around on Tuesday, August 9, are gearing up to sweep the competition yet again.

Simone Biles
Simone Biles on August 7, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Douglas, 20, who was the standout star at the 2012 Summer Games in London and won the individual event that year, didn’t score high enough during her Tuesday uneven bars performance to participate this time around. As always, the top 24 overall — two gymnasts from each country — are given the opportunity to compete in the individual all-around.

Alexandra Raisman, Madison Kocian, Lauren Hernandez, Gabrielle Douglas and Simone Biles
Alexandra Raisman, Madison Kocian, Lauren Hernandez, Gabrielle Douglas and Simone Biles

Related: Olympic Athletes Who Have Made TV and Movie Cameos

Ahead of the event, Hernandez, 16, shared a message of support for Raisman and Biles via Twitter. “Can’t WAIT for my girls to kick some butt tonight!” she wrote. “goodluck! You both deserve the best.”

The final, with every single gymnast’s performance, is available to livestream on the NBC Olympics site or NBC Sports app. The highlights will air on NBC during its prime time Olympics coverage at 8 p.m. ET. 

Related: PHOTOS: Olympic Athletes Turned TV and Movie Stars

Inside the event, Us Weekly’s senior reporter Cara Sprunk is liveblogging all the excitement from Rio. Follow along with Us

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