American teenager Sunisa Lee won the women’s gymnastics all-around Olympic gold on Thursday, succeeding defending champion Simone Biles who withdrew over concerns for her mental health.

Lee, 18, won ahead of Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, with Russian women’s team gold medallist Angelina Melnikova in the bronze medal position. Andrade became the first Brazilian to win a medal in this event.

Lee became the sixth American to win the title and the country has now won the gold in this event for five Games in a row.

It was the fourth final in four days to go down to the final rotation, with Lee’s polished floor exercise earning 13.7 to go into provisional gold, with Andrade unable to dislodge her.

Lee, from Minneapolis, added gold to the silver she won as part of the US women’s team on Tuesday with a points tally of 57.433, 0.144 clear of Andrade, with Melnikova 0.099 away in third.

Biles, who stood down from the Olympics during the women’s team final, was in the stands to cheer on her compatriot.

More to follow

With AFP inputs