'I did it for me'

Simone Biles made her eagerly-awaited return to the Olympic Games yesterday, saying "I did it for me" after taking bronze in the beam final won by Chinese teenager Guan Chenchen.

It was the US superstar's first taste of competition in Tokyo since dramatically standing down during the women's team final, struggling with the "twisties" - a condition where gymnasts lose the ability to orientate themselves in mid-air.

"I was just happy to be able to perform regardless of the outcome. I did it for me," said Biles.

After also withdrawing from the first three apparatus finals in the uneven bars, vault and floor, the 24-year-old said she had only been cleared to compete in the beam on Monday night.

"Just to have one more opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games meant the world," Biles added. "Training for five years and then coming here ... and not being able to do anything, it wasn't fun."

The four-time gold medallist from the Rio Games received a huge cheer from her US teammates when she entered the arena. As she filed in with the other finalists, she blew a kiss to the cameras.

She looked pensive as she waited for her turn to climb up onto the beam for her 90-second routine.

While avoiding any twists incorporated in her favored and most difficult moves, Biles put in a solid performance, ending with a double backward somersault, double pike dismount. Her face breaking into a broad grin, she waved and hugged rivals and team officials, the relief of having performed clear on her face.

Biles' routine earned her 14.000 points. "I had nerves but I felt pretty good," she said.

She was lying second behind Tang Xijing until Guan, 16, put in a superb display to take gold with 14.633 points, relegating Biles to bronze, the same color she won in Rio. It was Biles' seventh Olympic medal, equalling Shannon Miller's record for an American gymnast.