Tag: Simone Biles

American gymnastics superstar Simone Biles‘ three golden moments at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 brought her relief, not euphoria.

“There’s such high expectations on me that I’m supposed to win, so whenever I do win or get whatever medal that is, I feel relief off my shoulder like, ‘I did it. I’m done. Let’s move on to the next,’” Biles told Olympics.com that she’s ready to move on after going from team gold to all-around gold to vault gold in back-to-back-to-back finals.

Sure, she celebrated: raising one finger in triumph after the team final and running onto the floor U.S. flag in hand with bronze medallist Suni Lee in the all-around final.

But her true joy shown through in the victories of others, as Italy’s Alice D’Amato and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade claimed historic golds; when training partner Jordan Chiles captured floor exercise bronze.

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“When it’s something for somebody else, I know and I see the hard work that they put it,” Biles said. “Because for me, since I’ve been living in my own body, I don’t feel it the same. I know I put the hours in and I know I put the work in, it’s like, ‘Okay, thank God that’s over.’

Though the 27-year-old now owns 11 Olympic medals, including seven gold medals, she knows there will be critics who point to missing the podium on the balance beam or taking silver on the floor.

“People will have to talk, have Twitter fingers, whatever,” said Biles.

She doesn’t care.

Biles sees those as moments to support her peers in a way she can’t applaud herself.

“Whenever I see somebody else accomplish it, I feel like that’s the excitement I get because I’ve seen the hours and I wish I could celebrate myself like that,” she said.

“But [for myself], it’s just like, ‘Whew, thank God that’s done!’

“But for somebody else, I’m like, ‘Wooo! Let’s go!’”

Simone Biles might be the world’s most decorated gymnast but that did not stop her from producing uncharacteristic errors during her two final performances at the Paris Olympics on Monday, reminding her vast fan base that she, too, is human.

On a self-described “redemption tour”, Biles strived to return to the world’s most prestigious sporting stage after withdrawing from several events at the Tokyo Olympics where she suffered from a dangerous mental block known as the “twisties.”

Biles snapped up three gold medals in her first three events at the Paris Games – the team, the all-around and the vault.

There were high expectations that she would add to her overall tally of seven Olympic golds on the final day of the artistic gymnastics programme — but that was not how it played out.

She finished off the podium in fifth place in the balance beam final after slipping off the apparatus mid-routine.

About two hours later she was upstaged by Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade on the floor exercise after landing with two feet out of bounds on two of her four tumbling passes.

The six-tenths of a point penalty she incurred for stepping out of the marked area made the difference between gold and silver.

Despite her flawed performances on Monday, the 27-year-old American took things in stride as she earned silver on the floor to take her Olympic medal haul to 11.

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“I’ve accomplished way more than my wildest dreams. Not just at this Olympics, but in the sport,” a serene Biles said.

“A couple of years ago, I didn’t think I’d be back here at an Olympic Games. So competing and then walking away with four medals, I’m not mad about it. I’m pretty proud of myself.”

After Tokyo, it was unclear whether Biles would ever compete again, let alone at the Olympics.

Although she faced criticism over her withdrawal, she was also praised for advocating for mental health advocate when the world was still stricken with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I also think that putting your mental health first and taking time for yourself, whether you’re in sports or not, it creates longevity in sports specifically, but also for just a better, healthier lifestyle,” Biles said.

It remains to be seen whether the Paris Olympics will turn out to be Biles’ last. In a post on X that was shared 40,000 times, Biles implored her followers to stop “asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics.”