Simone Biles and U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team Triumph in Paris

Simone Biles and the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team are back on top. The 27-year-old led the team to gold yesterday, marking the team’s first gold medal since the 2016 Olympics in Rio. This victory follows her eighth medal of her career, making her the most decorated American gymnast of all time. The U.S. team now boasts four golds with a total of 27, while China leads with eight gold medals.

CBS News and sports correspondent Dana Jacobson is soaking it up for us in Paris. Despite a calf injury, Biles was able to lead the U.S. to gold. How did she do that?

Simone Biles’ Mental Toughness

Reporter: I think it’s because she’s Simone Biles. Her mental toughness is incredible. She said going in, she felt fine. When she went out there and had one landing after the first event, she was like, “I’m good and ready to go.” It was vault, which in Tokyo it was after the vault that she knew she had the twisties. She was incredible. Think about this, 48 medals between world championships and Olympic medals. It’s unbelievable. At 27, she’s young to me. But she’s old here for the games, and the oldest Olympian in gymnastics for the women since like the 1950s.

So you mentioned securing the gold. The look on their faces and the joy of enjoying each other as teammates winning that medal was so apparent, it’s like it cut through the screen. You didn’t even need to be there to enjoy that.

U.S. Women’s Rugby Team’s Historic Bronze Win

Especially in team sports, enjoying this individually and collectively. The U.S. Women’s Rugby Team earned a bronze yesterday, featuring a number of high-profile stars on its team. How big of a win is this?

Reporter: It’s huge, unprecedented, because Team USA for the women in rugby have never been here. They got to the favorites in New Zealand then lost, and rallied in this match against Australia. It’s incredible, you mentioned the profile. That’s part of it. You have Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” playing in the stadium after the U.S. team won, and one of the teammates saying, “I just can’t believe we did this.” They were so disappointed in Tokyo that they were not able to do.

Michelle Kang, the owner of the Washington Spirit in the NWSL and several other sports teams, is donating $4 million to USA Rugby. She has seen the importance of backing and helping it grow over the next four years, getting ready for the Olympics in Los Angeles, where Team USA Rugby will be the home team and maybe could make its way to gold.

Investment in Sports

It’s awesome to see the investment in sports. I want to ask you about the triathletes because they delayed the triathlon. There was an issue with fecal matter in the water. How are they feeling about this? Is it really happening?

Triathlon Delayed Due to Water Contamination

Reporter: It did happen, we don’t have to worry. This morning the men and women, women went in first and they said the levels were acceptable. We should note that they had participated, many of these athletes, in a test run. They were not that worried about going in the water. They got the triathlon done. There was a French champion as well. We’ll see where the water levels are next week. If there’s no rain, it’s good.