Capturing Simone Biles and Suni Lee Taking Gold and Bronze

Last night was another amazing night in the gymnastics venue, with Simone Biles grabbing yet another gold medal and Suni Lee getting a bronze. I didn't think I would be able to make it over to the gymnastics venue last night, but I had a last minute schedule change and jumped at the chance.  I got there an hour early, just like last time, but it was even more packed in the photo positions (where USA was in the rotation) this time around.

I found a decent spot near the vault, where the US was starting first. I decided to use the Canon R1 with the RF 100-300mm lens, but honestly, I should have stuck with the smaller and lighter RF 70-200mm lens. Hand holding the RF 100-300mm lens for hours on end is hard on the back, and it's size makes it harder to hold and track the athletes. But...having the extra reach of the lens let me get shots like this of Simone entering the arena (with all the photographers in tow). 

(Note: I have had numerous people ask me why there are different colored vests. The blue vests are for the "agency photographers" like Getty, AP, EPA... These agencies pay big money to get special shooting positions that us others never get.)

Here is a shot of Suni Lee doing her vault.

I really prefer the reaction to the action for this event. She was very happy with her performance.

Here is an inverted Simone Biles during her vault.

After completing her vault, she was standing right in front of me with this big smile on her face. It was a really surreal moment for me, because the last time she was right in front of me was in Tokyo when she bowed out of the competition.

That was this shot in Tokyo. Much happier times for her (and all of us post pandemic) now.

The next rotation was the uneven bars. I moved quickly from the vault to get a spot at the bars, but it was already packed solid. I was searching for an opening when a really nice photographer said "I will move over and make room for you". I thanked him and then he said "No, I have to thank you. If it was not for you I would not be a photographer today. I have seen your videos and read your blog for years." Wow, how cool is that? With my that position I was able to get some decent photos. I saw Simone chalking up and thought that would make for a fun "getting ready" photo.

I got a couple of decent shots of Simone on the bars, but not like the days before. Damn - wrong lens choice!

For the third part of the rotation, they were on the beam.  I ended up moving fast from the bars and got to the beam early. The one spot I found in the middle was basically the same location I photographed from the other day. I did not want the same angle as last time, so I moved out of the crowd of photographers to a side position. I like this jump, but bummed that she was facing the other way. 

But...this angle did give me some more head-on shots when she faced the other direction.

She jumped so high I barely got her in the shot.

I then got some nice poses on the beam.

When she dismounted and stuck the landing, she had this huge smile on he face.

Before coming down off the mat, she turned and looked right at me for this photo. At that point, I was really happy that I picked the location I did.

The last rotation was the floor exercise, and I knew that I needed to be in the right spot for that. Not only for the routine, but also because if they medaled, that would be the celebration shot. I left the beam before Suni even performed. It was a tough choice, but myself and many other photographers made that decision.  It gave me a chance to warm up on some of the other athletes.

Because I had this good position for the floor exercise, I was able to get nice photos of Suni for that. I love it when they do something cool, closer to me and in front of the rings.

Rebeca Andrade (from Brazil) performed very well and took the Silver Medal. I also liked that she was wearing yellow, which really popped from the blue background.

Simone, on the other hand, wore all blue, which did not stand out as much. Not that they check in with me beforehand. :)

Look at the height of her jump!

I am not sure if you can feel this when watching on television, but when the athletes know they are doing well, the energy just exudes from them.

You can see that in all these photos.

This was her ending and I was happy to get the big smile, but totally bummed that there were people in the background.

I saw that Suni had gone into her bag and grabbed a flag. Once they announced the scores, the two of them celebrated their awesome achievements.

I love this photo and already put it on my home page.

I saw this guy in the stands and loved that he was holding up Simone's face and the goat.

Then it was medal time, and they raised the flags.

Smiles for the TV cameras...

...and of course the obligatory selfie!

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