RIO DE JANEIRO -- Simone Biles felt her right foot slip. Then her left.As she reached down to steady herself on the balance beam -- her first visible misstep during an astonishing Olympics that includes three gold medals and some of the most boundary-pushing gymnastics ever -- one thought ran through her head.Wow, Simone, thats five-tenths, Biles said.Thats it. Nothing more. Sure, winning a record five gold medals in Rio de Janeiro would have been cool. Yet going 5-for-5 was always somebody elses deal. It wasnt hers. Her only regret in earning bronze during the beam final on Monday centered on those five seconds when she found herself scrambling to recover from a wobbly landing following a front flip.Im not disappointed in the medal that I received because anyone would love to have a bronze at an Olympics Games, Biles said. But Im disappointed in the routine that I did and not so much the whole entire routine, just the front tuck, I guess. Because the rest of the routine was pretty good.It was, but it wasnt quite good enough to stand atop the podium. Her score of 14.733 ended up well behind the 15.466 put up by Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands and the 15.333 Final Five teammate Laurie Hernandez posted in grabbing silver. Biles wont leave Brazil with five golds -- something no female gymnast has ever done -- and shes totally OK with it.I think you guys want it more than I do, Biles said matter-of-factly. I just want to perform the routines that I practice.Biles will get one more shot Tuesday in the floor exercise final. A victory in that event would put Biles with Larisa Latynina, Vera Caslavska and Ecaterina Szabo as the only women to win four golds in an Olympic meet. Its heady territory for a 19-year-old, one who couldnt help but sigh as the admitted perfectionist waited for her score to flash.She wasnt happy with it, coach Aimee Boorman said. She doesnt like to make mistakes. Its life, and it happens, and yes, she is human.Even if Biles had nailed her routine, theres no telling if she would have matched Wevers and Hernandez. Wevers was stunning while working across the 4-inch slab of wood 4-feet off the ground, and she called her routine the performance of her life, one that ended with a hug from Dutch King Willem-Alexander and a phone call from the prime minister.To be out there and do my best routine ever in such a big final was amazing, Wevers said.It needed to be for Wevers to edge Hernandez. The 16-year-old is the youngest member of the Final Five who have turned the Rio Olympic Arena into a showcase of the widening gap between the U.S. womens program and the rest of the world. Yet she hardly looked overcome by the moment as she dazzled on her favorite event while securing a seventh medal for the American women.Im very comfortable when Im up there, Hernandez said. Its incredible to be able to tumble on 4 inches of wood.Thats something that comes second nature to Hernandez, who regularly turns any random street curb into a chance to practice. She did that on her way to the venue on Monday, helping calm any lingering jitters.I dont really think about it, Hernandez said. I could probably sprint on the beam if I want to.The medal also gave the relentlessly charismatic Hernandez a chance to step into the spotlight after national team coordinator Martha Karolyi opted to keep her budding star out of the all-around competition. Hernandez accepted the assignment without complaint, and her voice was among the loudest in the arena during Biles gold-clinching floor exercise. Biles returned the favor after Hernandez stuck her dismount, and the two good friends laughed during the seemingly interminable wait for the score.She does those same exact routines in practice, Biles said. Im so glad she could share that with the world and show how hard shes been training.Hernandez turned professional shortly before arriving in Rio and could fill the void at the top of the U.S. program if Biles decides to take a break after the games. True stardom awaits her once she returns home, a notion Biles is vaguely aware of but trying to tune out. She still considers herself normal, even as other Olympic athletes stop her in the village to pose for selfies or say hi.There will be a sense of relief when she finishes her Brazilian-themed floor routine on Tuesday, an event in which shes the reigning world champion. Biles put on a display during the all-around final that Karolyi called the closest thing to perfection in the sport. One momentary lapse Monday did nothing to diminish Biles extraordinary time in Rio.Also Monday, Ri Se Gwang of North Korea took gold in mens vault, followed by Denis Abliazin of Russia and Kenzo Shirai of Japan. Eleftherios Petrounias of Greece powered his way to gold on still rings. Arthur Zanetti of Brazil took silver, with Abliazin capturing bronze.Adidas NMD Factory Outlet . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide. Adidas NMD Pharrell Williams Human Race Yellow . Cote was eligible to become a free agent Feb. 15. Cote helped running back Jon Cornish run for a league-high 1,813 rushing yards en route to being named the leagues most outstanding player. http://www.cheapnmdonline.com/ . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer. Adidas NMD Human Race China . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Adidas NMD R2 Cheap . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover.NEW YORK -- Its late at night and the National Tennis Center is empty and still, the pale moonlight reflecting off the new fabric roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, the venue that eclipsed me as the centerpiece of the US Open. It makes me feel older than my 52 years, but I wont be feeling overshadowed much longer.Sometime next week, the first wrecking ball will kiss one of my flanks, shaking me down to my steel foundation, as my demolition begins. Soon theyll cart me away in pieces to become landfill somewhere. At least Ill still be useful.You might wonder why Im writing this letter. I could say a lot of fancy things about the importance of the historical record, or about legacy. Thats certainly a part of it. Legions of people who attend the US Open now probably never experienced me in my prime, before Ashe Stadium was built. We Americans have a knack for burying and forgetting our past, always moving on. Im scared. Im afraid Ill be forgotten.I may not be the most iconic tennis court in the world; I never was, even before I was superseded by Ashe. That honor belongs to Centre Court at Wimbledon. I never offered the intimacy of the Bullring at Roland Garros, the grandiosity of the Foro Italico, or the perfect sight lines of Rod Laver Arena.Ive only been the most important tennis court in the world. It would make my gradual fall and demise easier to accept if I knew I will be remembered as such.Fittingly, I wasnt born to the manor. I was originally the Singer Bowl, part of the 1964 New York Worlds Fair. Left to molder after that historic gathering left town, I was discovered in 1976 by a visionary USTA president from Mississippi named Slew Hester. He was pondering the future of the US Open, gazing out the window of a plane approaching LaGuardia Airport, when he spotted me. He changed my life.In 1977, tennis was in the midst of a tremendous boom in popularity. But it was still considered a sport of and for the country club set. And no wonder. Three of the four Grand Slam championships, including the US Open, were played at exclusive, private clubs. In our case, the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York, which is just a few subway stops but many income brackets removed from Flushing Meadows.Hester, a tough man with profound democratic instincts, resolved to take the US Open out of the country club and into the public park. He rammed his agenda through the USTA board and ultimately got the entire National Tennis Center created in one year, in time to host the 1978 Open.There I was, reborn and renamed for a marvelous, soulful musician instead of a stitching machine. I was the centerpiece of the largest tennis Grand Slam venue in the world, with seats for 18,000. No tennis stadium on earth was larger. And it was a public facility, in a public park.Oh, there was blowback. Some critics didnt like my bare bones look, withh all those steel girders and a visible, concrete underbelly.dddddddddddd Others missed the genteel aspects of the country club. Some wanted more greenery. Snobs thought the USTA was going down-market or just grabbing for more money. Most of them forget this: In just 12 months, Hester got an entire Grand Slam facility built. There would be time to cross the ts and dot the is.This was a transformative moment in tennis. We opened the floodgates on a new era that was only stirring when Open tennis began in 1968. In 1978, the U.S. dominated tennis as well as the economics of tennis. We shaped the future, setting the tone for how the world would receive, view and regard the game. The results speak for themselves.Within a few years, Tennis Australia officials would do exactly the same thing Hester did. Look where they are now. Wimbledon has undergone massive renovations and kept up with the times, evolving into a private club with a near-messianic and almost exclusively public mission. The French are hamstrung by local politics and threatening to move from Roland Garros if not allowed to fulfill their manifest destiny. The global reach of the game now extends far beyond the silver on a white linen tablecloth.And yes, those were grand times. The players we had only made it better. What can I say about Jimmy Connors? Man, did he go at it with that Johnny Mac! Chrissie and Steffi brought a touch of class, but I had a soft spot for that feisty little tiger cub, Tracy Austin. Martina and Pete, what offensive talents! Andre never did figure me out. Stony-faced Ivan was a hoot. I couldnt get rid of him -- eight finals in a row! Sheesh. So many memories.It was an unending party for 19 years. Then Ashe was opened in 1996. You might think I was shattered by that. They loped off my upper deck, reducing my capacity to 10,200 (they threw in a facelift, covering my facade with brick to match Ashe). They got rid of anything like a press box, and most seats became open on a first-come, first-serve basis. That bred long lines and frustrated fans. I was relegated to being the No. 2 show court.I dont like the way my reputation has been tarnished over time by the crowding and access problems. It would have been nice in these last few years to host Roger Federer, Serena Williams or Novak Djokovic. But I dont mind having been relegated. Ashe was the right call -- the stadium honors the right person.Its dark out beyond my rim and the MTA rail yard, but I imagine the bulldozers and earthmovers are already lined up, ready to go to work Monday. Sometimes I wish there were another way, but I know there isnt. Im an artifact. Ive outlived my usefulness. But for a long time I was the most important tennis court in the world. ' ' '