Simone Biles falters on beam, has one more shot at another gold medal

When her hands reached out and grabbed the balance beam to prevent a fall, Simone Biles knew what it meant.

It always comes back to the numbers.

“Honestly, the first thing I thought whenever I touched the beam, ‘Wow Simone, that was five-tenths [deduction],’ ” Biles said.

It meant her chance for a fourth gymnastics gold medal at the Olympics will have to wait until Tuesday’s floor exercise. For the first time in four events, Biles did not stand atop the podium. Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands put on a stellar beam performance (15.466) to win gold on Monday.

Sixteen-year-old Laurie Hernandez of the U.S. was the silver medalist (15.333) and Biles (14.733) won bronze, staving off pint-sized crowd-favorite Flavia Saraiva of Brazil, who stands 4 feet 4.

“Honestly, I didn’t even think I was going to medal, so I didn’t even put our medal ceremony outfit on: 14.7 is not that good on beam,” Biles said.

Biles has been on autopilot in Rio, so efficient and so dominating, that a loss was seemingly unthinkable. And the error came on a less-difficult skill, a forward tuck somersault.

Many seemed to forget the randomness of the balance beam, a most unforgiving piece of equipment. Women’s national team coordinator Martha Karolyi was asked if it was disappointing that Biles lost.

“Yes, it was,” Karolyi said. “But Simone is also a human being. We try to say she is a super human but actually I think probably a little bit the pressure got to her mentally.”

Her legendary eye doesn’t miss much.

“I saw the takeoff of that front somersault wasn’t high enough,” Karolyi said. “…She was landing too low and a little bit off balance. She fought and didn’t fall, that still showed her strength of character.”

Said Biles’ coach Aimee Boorman: “That was a fluke thing. Her heel hit, it slipped, the other foot started to slip and she had to grab the beam. She wasn’t happy with it. She doesn’t like to make mistakes. But it’s life and it’s happens and yes she is human.”

Biles insisted the drive for five gold medals was a media creation.

“It’s something you guys shove into my head and at 19 I can’t put that much stress on myself,” she said. “I think you guys want it more than I do.”

Sharing the podium with Hernandez was some consolation for Biles. Two gymnasts, including the winner, Wevers, competed after Biles and before Hernandez. When Hernandez completed a nearly flawless routine, Biles, with a big smile, gave her teammate a big hug.

“I think this is one of the better routines that I showed in Rio,” Hernandez said. “I just went out there with a calm and collected mindset … to get my own little medal. They’re big, I guess. It’s the Olympics. Any color medal is amazing.”

A year ago, Hernandez wasn’t even on the international radar. Now she will leave Rio with a team gold and individual silver.

“It’s been a roller-coaster up and down,” said Maggie Haney, the personal coach of Hernandez. “You come in and you expect one thing and maybe if that thing doesn’t happen … you have to shed tears and kind of move on to the next thing you can accomplish.”

Haney sensed that Hernandez was feeling the stress on Monday.

“I think I hugged her about 50 times and told her, ‘You can do it,’ about 500 times,” Haney said.

“I can just see it in her face. I’ve known her forever. She gets quiet and she starts standing there. She doesn’t talk too much. She puts her hand on her stomach. She gets a blank stare. … Like I said, it was her one shot to get a medal for herself. I hugged her so many times … and she was like, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’ ”

Lisa.dillman@latimes.com

Twitter: @reallisa

MORE FROM OLYMPICS

Ryan Lochte recalls a gun to his head after another troubled day at Rio Olympics

Andy Murray repeats as men’s singles champion with four-set victory over Juan Martin del Potro

It’s not easy being green: Rio officials to drain discolored pool water and start over