By Rory Carroll
PARIS (Reuters) – Jade Carey’s three-year wait for a shot at redemption in the Olympic vault competition was agonisingly extended when she was forced to go last in Saturday’s final at the Paris Games but when her moment came she did not miss, earning a bronze medal.
At the Tokyo Games, Carey was the top qualifier but a mistimed approach forced her to abort her planned vault and she ultimately landed in last place.
“Definitely I felt the pressure start building,” she told reporters of her wait at the Bercy Arena.
“I was like, really? I’ve got to be last? After I anticipated this for so long?
“But I really just tried to kind of keep to myself, stay focused on what I needed to do.”
This time Carey timed her sprint down the runaway to perfection to hit a Cheng vault for a 14.733. She followed that up with a safer but equally solid second effort.
Carey was forced to wait yet again as the judges studied her performance. Knowing she needed an average score of more than 14.216 from her two vaults to secure the bronze, she opted to downgrade the difficultly level of her second attempt to ensure a smooth execution. A score of 14.200 earned her an average of 14.466 points.
“I knew that I did everything that I could have done,” she said.
In the end only the world’s two best vaulters finished ahead of her, Carey’s compatriot Simone Biles, who grabbed gold, and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who took silver.
The Paris Games did not get off to a promising start for the 24-year-old. The Tokyo floor exercise champion failed to qualify for the final after she stumbled backwards and almost rolled off the mat at the end of one her tumbling passes.
After the qualifying competition, Carey revealed that she had been unwell and had not been able to eat for a few days.
She rallied admirably to help the U.S. to a team gold medal in Paris. Three years ago, the Americans finished second in the women’s team competition after Biles abruptly pulled out mid competition suffering from a mental block during her performances.
“It’s just been really fun to be able to bond and be back here and have everyone be doing so well because we all wanted redemption in some way, and I think we’ve already all got it,” she said.
Biles and Carey are the first two U.S. women to medal on vault at the same Olympics and she credited hear teammate with motivating her.
“She’s a really big inspiration to me and so many people,” she said.
“Just seeing her pave the way for the sport is really incredible and inspiring, and I’m just lucky to be competing alongside her.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Paris, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
