Rio Roundup: Simone Biles grabs gold, Aly Raisman wins silver

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- When a blind landing isn't the hardest part of your performance, you know you are destined for greatness.

Simone Biles dominated the field once again Thursday in Rio de Janeiro, taking home her second gold medal in the women's individual all-around final. The gymnast pulled out her signature move on the floor exercise. After running into her round-off, she exploded into a back handspring, then performed 'The Biles.' That move consists of a double layout with a half twist. Biles stuck her blind landing after pulling off 'The Biles' in front of the raucous Summer Games crowd.

The superstar American gymnast, regarded as the best in the world and arguably of all-time, showed off unparalleled athleticism on the beam, and made her vault performance appear effortless.

Team USA's Aly Raisman placed second in the event while Russia's Aliya Mustafina won the bronze medal. Biles scored a 62.198, Raisman scored 60.098, and Mustafina had 58.665 points in the event.

"I'm not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps," Biles said after the event. "I'm the first Simone Biles."

Biles will still compete in vault, balance beam, and floor exercise finals in Rio, giving her a chance to leave with five gold medals.

"Every emotion hit me at once so I was just kind of a train wreck," Biles told reporters after the event.

"Everything was going through my head but mainly it was like I had finally done it and when that hits you, you can't really stop the emotions."

Michael Phelps won his fourth consecutive gold medal in the 200-meter individual medley. His 1:54.66 blazed by the field.

Japanese swimmer Kosuke Hagino scored the silver medal while American Ryan Lochte finished fifth.

"It has been a long journey," Lochte told NBC's Michele Tafoya after the swim. "I wish I did a little better. I felt great before the race. I guess I just didn't have it tonight. I'm kind of bummed but I gave it my all so that's all I can ask for."

Phelps later qualified for the 100-meter butterfly.

"Winning four in a row, when the announcer said that I had a really hard time holding it together," Phelps told Tafoya. "It's obviously a really emotional event for me. It's really special. Being able to win 22 Olympic gold medals is something you just dream of."

The United States now has 38 medals, besting its total of 32 after Wednesday. China is second overall in medal count with 30, while Japan has 22 for third place so far.

Phelps and Katie Ledecky are now tied for most medals in Rio with four each. For a running tally of individual American medalists, visit UPI's Live Medal Count.

RUNDOWN IN RIO

Team USA's Ryan Murphy won his second gold medal in Rio after beating Australia's Mitchell Larkin and Russia's Evgeny Rylov in the men's 200-meter backstroke final. American Simone Manuel and Canada's Penny Oleksiak each swam a 52.70 in the women's 100-meter freestyle to take home gold medals. Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom won the bronze medal. Madison Keys defeated Russia's Daria Kasatkina in the women's singles tennis quarterfinal. Steve Johnson won his third round singles match against Russia's Evgeny Donskoy.

Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram beat the Netherlands' Kiki Bertens and Jean-Julien Rojer 2-1 in the first round of mixed doubles tennis. Romania's Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau beat Team USA's Johnson and Jack Sock in the men's doubles semifinal. Sock and Bethanie Mattek-Sands later beat Great Britain's Johanna Konta and Jamie Murray in the first round of mixed doubles tennis.

Kayla Harrison beat Hungary's Abigel Joo in the women's judo 78 kg quarterfinal before beating France's Audrey Tcheumeo in the gold medal contest. She became the first American ever to win two judo gold medals.

The United States rugby sevens team placed ninth after beating Spain.

On Friday, Johnson faces Great Britain's Andy Murray in the men's singles tennis quarterfinal at noon in Rio. Johnson and Sock face Canada's Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil in the men's doubles tennis bronze medal match Friday afternoon. Team USA's women's basketball team faces Canada at 3:30 p.m. in Group B preliminary play. The men's basketball squad faces Serbia at 7 p.m. in Group A preliminary play.

Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram face Italy's Roberta Vinci and Fabio Fognini in the tennis mixed doubles quarterfinal.