For Simone Biles, this was more than just a vault—it was the moment she put to rest the Olympic ghosts from three years ago. On Tuesday in Paris, the American gymnast took a deep breath as she stood at the end of a 25-meter runway, ready to help her USA teammates reclaim the women’s gymnastics team title they had lost in Tokyo. Biles had started the final in Tokyo but was unable to complete it when the ‘twisties’ struck during her vault.

In front of a packed Bercy Arena, with Serena Williams, Michael Phelps, and Bill Gates among the spectators, Biles powered onto the table and twisted off to land firmly on her feet. The crowd roared as she broke into a huge smile.

“After I finished vault I was relieved—I was like ‘woo, there’s no flashbacks’,” Biles, 27, said. “I did feel a lot of relief and as soon as I landed I knew that we were going to do this.”

And she was right. Biles and her teammates went on to win gold by a comfortable margin, ahead of Italy and Brazil.

From the moment she landed her vault in the first round, Biles seemed to relax, high-fiving her teammates Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera. One after another, they delivered a series of accomplished routines.

In Tokyo, Biles had been left cheering on the team from the stands while afflicted by the dangerous mental block where gymnasts get lost in the air. This led to her pulling out of four individual finals at a Games where she had been tipped for several gold medals. She returned to compete in the beam final, taking an emotional bronze, but it wasn’t until now—eight years after she won four gold medals at Rio 2016—that she could return to the top of the Olympic podium.

“Now that I’m much older, we have so much more experience and we’re out here really having fun and enjoying what we’re doing—so I think it’s just different,” she said when asked about the 2016 and 2024 team golds.

Biles has qualified for another four finals in Paris, with her next medal opportunity coming in Thursday’s all-around final.