During the event finals for balance beam, Simone Biles, already a three time gold medalist for this Olympics, made a mistake after a punch front during the middle of her routine. Though she did not technically come off the beam, Biles put her hands down on the beam to steady herself, which does count as a fall. As she came off the beam and went to her coach, Aimee Boarman, you could tell she was keeping her emotions reeled in. Biles, under so much pressure to earn all five gold medals she could potentially win, likely wasn't expecting the disappointment. 14.733 was Biles' score, which barely put her into first place, but there were still five gymnasts left to compete. Even the "best gymnast in the world" makes mistakes. Even the "best gymnast in the world" can be beaten by .733 points. Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands knocked her down to second place with a score of 15.466 after an undeniably beautiful beam routine. With that routine, Simone was officially out of the running for five gold medals.

The hardest thing about gymnastics, besides the skills, is the undeniable pressure put on these athletes to seek perfection. Even though the "perfect 10" is no longer in play, seeking perfection is still expected. Gymnastics is all about control, power, fluidity, flexibility, and grace. Your routines have to demonstrate all of those and be as close to perfect as possible. But as Haley Graham says in the movie "Stick It,"

"Four events and four judges per event. That's sixteen judges ready to tell us just how badly we suck. Sixteen people ready to tell us just how perfect we're not. But here we are, chasing perfection. The problem is, perfection doesn't exist. But just try telling 'that' to the judges."

I don't think anybody expected the Olympic All Around champion to "fall," score anything less than a 15.0, and show that she is capable of making mistakes. I don't think anyone expected for Simone to get anything but gold. But after Laurie Hernandez's routine scored a 15.333, Biles was sitting in the bronze medal position, with two competitors left to go. Simone didn't smile after her own routine, but she was beaming watching her teammate, Laurie Hernandez. And that is where you see the loyalty and love that connects the USA gymnasts. Right after Laurie stepped off the floor, Simone embraced her and stated, "I am so proud of you!" And the old Simone seemed to be back. She distanced herself from her own disappointment for a second to show her true support for her teammate. After Laurie's routine, Sanne was still in first place and guaranteed a medal. No matter the color, it would be the first individual women's gymnastics medal ever earned for the Netherlands.

Marine Boyer of France competed after Hernandez, with a routine that scored a 14.6. With both Boyer and Romania's Catalina Ponor scoring less than 14.5, the only threat left to Simone Biles medaling was Flavia Saravia of Brazil. No Brazilian woman had ever won an Olympic gymnastics medal. Saravia is a Rio kid competing in her hometown, practically in her own neighborhood. Even before Saravia started her routine, both Sanne and Laurie were guaranteed medals. Biles was still on the bubble, but she still hugged Laurie to show her support, just as proud of her 16-year-old teammate as ever before. Because only two gymnasts per country could qualify for each event final, and both Biles and Raisman scored higher to qualify for the floor exercise final, Hernandez's Olympics run was due to end with the balance beam final. And there was no doubt she medaled. After Flavia's score was announced as 14.533, Biles' fate was decided. She changed into her podium garb, ready to walk out and accept her bronze medal. Laurie Hernandez already had her garb on, ready to accept her silver medal, but Simone proved how humble she is by not jumping the gun. That's gymnastics. It's unpredictable, and Biles knew that. But even with a fall, it's incredible that she still medaled.

There is no doubt that Simone Biles, at 19 years old, is an incredible gymnast. But no one is perfect. Nastia Liukin and Gabby Douglas would both tell you that they are far from it, and I think Simone Biles would agree that she falls in the imperfect category as well. Gymnastics is an incredibly hard sport. No matter how hard you try or how well you hit your routines, you still will not be perfect. And that's okay...or at least it should be. The three women who medaled should be incredibly proud of their routines, as should the other five who qualified for the event final but did not medal. Sanne Wevers, the first female gymnast from the Netherlands to win an individual medal, made history with a beautiful routine filled with elements simply not seen in the routines of her competitors. There's no doubt she will be proud of her gold medal. Laurie Hernandez, in her first major international competition, had an incredible routine as well. The determination to succeed and hit her routine was evident. Her huge smile after her dismount was almost matched by Simone's. Laurie should be proud of her silver. And Simone, who continued to power through her routine after her "fall," should be proud of her bronze. In the end, it's a medal. It might not be the color she wanted, but it is still a beautiful medal, and a testament to her unwavering desire to compete to the best of her ability. In the end people may still say that she failed because she didn't earn the gold. I hope she doesn't see it as a failure. It would be a failure if she hopped off the beam and refused to continue competing, but she didn't. She made a mistake, and she just kept going. Because that's what you do when you make mistakes. Making mistakes does not make you a failure, it just makes you human.