Simone Biles, Suni Lee on silent Olympic beam final: 'It was really weird and awkward'

PARIS — There are more than 10,000 seats in Bercy Arena, and almost every single one of them was filled Monday afternoon for the balance beam final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. But if you were expecting raucous cheers or thumping music in the background, you would've been disappointed.

As each of the each competitors mounted the beam, the arena went almost completely silent − save for the occasional cough or the click of a camera. NBC analyst Laurie Hernandez said on the broadcast that you could've heard a pin drop.

"I did hear a pin drop, actually," she joked several minutes later.

For American audiences, the story of this event was that 11-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles surprisingly failed to make the podium after falling off the beam, as did compatriot Suni Lee. But what made the whole event strange was that unnerving silence − and even the unusual attempts by some spectators to shush those who clapped or cheered after big moments in each routine.

Biles and Lee each got some shushes from the crowd while cheering for each other, which they agreed was "annoying," Lee said.

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"You're trying to stay in your zone, and then people start cheering and then the shushing gets louder, so really, they should be shushed because they're louder," Biles said after the beam and floor finals. "It was really weird and awkward. And we've asked several times if we can have some music, or some background noise, so I'm not really sure what happened there. But, yeah, not our favorite. None of us liked it."

It seems almost tortuous to inject silence into the Olympic balance beam final. What's worse than trying to flip and leap across a wooden beam that is four inches wide, in front of a global television audience, with a gold medal at stake? How about doing it as 10,000 people stare at you silently?

At most major gymnastics meets in the United States, multiple events are going on concurrently so gymnasts are always competing with the white noise of random chapping and cheering. At the most recent world championships in Antwerp, Belgium, there was at least some light music playing in the background.

A spokesperson for the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said the silence was part of the "sports presentation plan at Paris 2024," and the international federation does not have any requirements or rules as they pertain to background noise or music. The Paris 2024 organizing committee did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

"Even watching the other finals, I was like, 'It's a little too quiet in here,'" said Lee, who placed sixth in her final event at these Games. "When I was up there, I was like, 'People can probably hear me breathing.'

"It adds to the stress, just because yes, you're the only one up there, but it just makes you feel like you're the only one up there. I was feeling the pressure."

The silence also made any small noises − Biles mentioned "Android ringtones going off" and "the photo flickers" − seem amplified.

"Each gymnast has their own way to interpret the atmosphere, and likes a different type of atmosphere," Brazil's Julia Soares said through a translator. "It's my first (Olympic) final, but for my experience, when the gymnasium is quiet, any noise can bother and can interfere."

It all made for a very jarring and unusual experience − the biggest stage in the sport, and one of its most exciting moments, but without the musical energy and soundtrack of applause that is so common at similar events in swimming, track and field and most other major Olympic sports.

"I've competed in France a long time and it was the first time that I heard anybody shush," said Biles' coach Cecile Landi, who grew up in France. "So it was really strange. I don't know if they thought the athletes wanted it to be quiet. I can tell them now: No. They did not. They do not like it."

It was telling that, minutes after the final concluded, USA Gymnastics posted a GIF of Jordan Chiles smiling and alluded to the last final of the day: Floor exercise, where tumbling routines are set to music.

Fortunately, the national governing body wrote, that "guarantees that there will be music played during the routines."

"Yeah," Biles said. "It was an odd beam final."

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.

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