RIO DE JANEIRO — American Simone Biles added a third gold medal to her haul in Rio, easily winning the women's vault final Sunday afternoon.
The 19-year-old averaged 15.966 during her two vaults, well clear of silver medalist Maria Paseka of Russia and bronze medalist Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland.
Biles is the first American woman to win Olympic gold on vault. Her three gold medals in Rio also are the most by an American female gymnast in one Olympics. Biles will have a chance at more gold later this week when she competes in the event finals on balance beam and floor exercise.
India's Dipa Karmakar finished fourth. Karmakar is the first Indian female gymnast to compete in the Olympics. Oksana Chusovitina of Uzebekistan came in seventh. The 41-year-old is competing in her seventh Olympics.
Meanwhile, Russia's Aliya Mustafina defended her Olympic title in uneven bars on Sunday, edging American Madison Kocian for gold in a tight final.
Mustafina's score of 15.900 was just a touch better than Kocian's score of 15.833. The difference was the difficulty of Mustafina's routine, which was one-tenth tougher than Kocian's brilliant set.
The "Final Five" had won every gold medal available in Rio behind superstar Simone Biles. It ended when Mustafina nailed her dismount on her way to an eighth Olympic medal.
Sophie Scheder of German was third.
Gabby Douglas, the 2012 Olympic all-around champion, finished seventh.