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RIO 2016

Biles: four-gold gymnast to carry US flag at Rio closing ceremony

Simone Biles has been rewarded for her five-medal haul at her maiden Games by becoming only the second American gymnast to be handed the honour.

AFP
Biles: four-gold gymnast to carry US flag at Rio closing ceremony
Ian MacNicolGetty Images

Gymnast Simone Biles, winner of four gold medals in her first Olympic Games in Rio, will carry the US flag at the closing ceremony on Sunday, the US Olympic Committee said Saturday.

Biles was chosen by a vote of fellow Team USA members and is just the second gymnast to be named flag bearer for the US, after Alfred Jochim in the opening ceremony in 1936.

Biles won team and individual gold medals in the women's all-around, vault and floor exercise, also adding a fifth medal - bronze - on balance beam.

Biles celebrates on the podium at the medal ceremony for the Women's Floor on Day 11 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
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Biles celebrates on the podium at the medal ceremony for the Women's Floor on Day 11 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.Alex LiveseyGetty Images

The 19-year-old is the first American gymnast to win four golds at a single Games.

She is one of only four women to accomplish the feat in Olympic history, joining Larissa Latynina (1956), Vera Caslavska (1968) and Ekaterina Szabo (1984).