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Jordan Chiles Reflects on Her Moment at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Get to know the next generation of must-know names that are changing the game in the series Introducing, where Sports Illustrated and Empower Onyx are celebrating the Black women and girls who are emerging leaders and rising stars in the sports world.

During the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, when star U.S. gymnast Simone Biles suddenly withdrew from the team final after suffering a case of the twisties on the vault, her teammate Jordan Chiles was called on to step in—but the 20-year-old was unsure whether she could deliver. Chiles was slated for vault and floor in the team final, but with Biles out, she had to compete in the balance beam and uneven bars, too. She had no issues in her routines on the bars and beam, but on the floor, Chiles slipped and fell. The misstep didn’t put the U.S. out of medal contention—with Chiles’s help, the team took home the silver.