What Simone Biles achieved Tuesday by winning the bronze medal in the balance beam was close to equilibrium, a state of balance.

Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, the 24-year-old was seen as America’s greatest hope. Her withdrawal from team and individual competitions changed all that.

Winning what is almost certainly the final medal of her Olympic career on the final individual event of the Tokyo Olympics was how she stuck the landing. She is now tied with Shannon Miller as the most decorated Olympic gymnast in U.S. history, but given that Biles has more gold medals (four to Miller’s two), the title “greatest of all time” is undisputed.

I like that ending. I like that ending more than if the queen of American gymnastics had torn up the mats in Tokyo, winning golds at every stage and dominating the competition.

Here’s what Simone Biles is, beyond being scary-good at launching herself into the air and performing acrobatics that no other person can match: she’s a human being subject to the same limitations that all human beings face. Yes, she has more physical gifts than most of us will ever know. And she has the drive and focus to use them. How many hours has she spent practicing these skills? How many setbacks has she overcome? How many demons has she battled, including a certain sex offender disguised as a team doctor?

When I was young, I rooted for the U.S. Olympic team to win medals. Wasn’t that the point? Why else have national teams? This was the Cold War era, and we couldn’t let the Soviets dominate, could we?

As I grew older, I began to appreciate the breakout performances regardless of home country. How about that Nadia Comaneci? How about that Usain Bolt? They seemed as gods. But now as the Medicare years beckon (in the far, far distance), I find I appreciate as much those competitors who tried and failed as I do those who end up standing on the podium.

Each has overcome adversity in their own way just to be there. They are the heroes of their own stories. Pamela Ware attempts a difficult dive on the 3-meter springboard. She missteps and ends up jumping feet-first into the water like it was party time in the backyard pool, scoring a “perfect” 0. There goes any hope for victory of any kind.

“I made a mistake,” the Canadian later posted on Instagram. “It could have happened to anybody, but it happened to me at the wrong time.”

It must have been difficult to write those words. Just as it must have been incredibly hard for Simone Biles, America’s beloved champion, to sit out all those events and instead root for her teammates.

But this is exactly how life works. We work hard. We do our best. But sometimes it is not good enough. Sometimes, we come up far short of expectations. In moments like those, can we accept that we did not win? Can we appreciate the success of others?

If we cannot show good sportsmanship, what hope is there for how we deal with each other on the street or the workplace or in politics?

May we all face adversity with the grace and class that so many Olympians have demonstrated in recent days, despite the limitations of a global pandemic.

Peter Jensen is an editorial writer at The Baltimore Sun.