Troubled gymnastics star Simone Biles showed she had lost none of her class with a brilliant beam routine.

Her total score of 14 saw her take out the bronze, with incredibly impressive displays by Chinese athletes Chenchen Guan - aged just 16 - and Xijing Tang giving them gold and silver respectively.

Biles arrived in Tokyo with the expectation of equalling or even surpassing her historic quadruple gold medal haul from Rio in 2016.

A hot favourite in several events at the Games - including the all-round, vault, floor and uneven bars - Biles had not performed in public since sensationally dropping out of the women’s team final last week.

She later admitted that she was far from her all-conquering best, pulling out because she was suffering from twisties - a psychological phenomenon that impinges on a gymnast’s spatial awareness.

“It has never transferred to bars and beam for me,” Biles said. “This time it’s literally in every event, which sucks.

“You literally cannot tell up from down. It’s the craziest feeling ever, not having an inch of control over your body.”

Despite the beam not being regarded as Biles’ greatest strength, it took special efforts from Guan and Tang to overcome the US champion, who has won three world titles on the apparatus and a bronze medal in Rio 2016.

Biles was earlier spotted at a training session, smoothly negotiating the beam.

Along with her fellow finalists, Biles had three sessions lasting about two minutes each.

She seemed confident and comfortable, dismounting with a backward somersault the first time.

During the next two sessions, Biles somersaulted backwards with a double pike dismount.