Adriana Moore’s excitement was still at a fever pitch in the minutes after watching American gymnast Simone Biles deliver her latest tour de force at the Olympics in Paris. Moore is a fellow American, she is from New Jersey, and a gymnastic fanatic who has long followed Biles’ career. She decided to come to Paris for the Olympics to celebrate her birthday, inviting her friend Tanya Bascombe, a native of Brooklyn, New York, along with her.
Coming to Paris meant, of course, watching Biles perform. The two friends were hardly alone among the thousands of other Americans who crammed into Bercy Arena for the women’s all-around final on Thursday.
That included NBA stars Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane was also there. So was International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.