Simone Biles: An unstoppable force in gymnastics

BY KRISHNA MISTRY

Simone Biles qualifies for the Olympics again, making this her third Olympics. Simone Arianne Biles Owens is a twenty-seven-year-old American-Belizean artistic gymnast from the United States national team. Biles is regarded as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, as she has exhibited excellence and resilience throughout her career and is an inspiration to many people across the globe.

Biles was raised in Texas by her grandparents, Ron and Nellie Biles, who adopted Simone and her sister, Aria, due to family issues. Biles’ gymnastic journey began at the age of six, during a daycare field trip to Bannon’s Gymnastix, where the coach quickly recognized her natural talent and she began training under Aimme Boorman.

Being a part of the Caribbean community, Biles realized the rare sport that she planned to pursue. Biles still decided to pursue gymnastics as a career and became an inspiration for many young girls out there to pursue what their hearts desire.

Since then, Biles has competed in gymnastics for thirteen years. She began her professional journey in the junior division in 2011 when she competed at the 2011 American Classic, placing third overall. In 2013, Biles entered the international level, where she won her first all-around title at the USA Gymnastics National Championship. She then proceeded to win two more gold medals at the 2013 World Championship in Antwerp, Belgium, showing that she was here to stay.

In women’s gymnastics, there are four main events that athletes compete in: vault, bars, beam, and floor exercise. When athletes excel in all four events, then it is known as all-around. This implies all gymnastics events except for the Olympics. In the Olympics, not all athletes compete in all four events. They have a separate all-around event where athletes compete in all four of these events and are scored accordingly.

After her great first year at the international level, Biles continues to further her career. Biles has had the opportunity to attend three Olympics in her career. Biles attended her first Olympics in 2016 when she was just nineteen years old. She had an amazing performance at her first Olympics, winning four gold medals.

Throughout her career, Biles has had the opportunity to compete in many competitions and also win many medals. Biles has won a total of thirty-nine medals in her career. She has won: twenty-nine gold medals, four Olympic medals, twenty-three World Championship medals, and two Pacific Rim Championship medals. She has won five silver medals, one Olympic medal, and four World Championship medals. And won five bronze medals, two Olympic medals, and three World Champions medals.

In addition to Biles’s great performances at many competitions, she is also known for her world championship titles. Biles is a World Champion in many events, such as: a six-time world all-around champion (2013-2015, 2018-2019, 2023), a six-time world floor exercise champion (2013-2015, 2018-2019, 2023), a four-time world beam balance champion (2014-2015, 2019, 2023), a two-time world vault champion (2018-2019), and a nine-time United States national all-around champion (2013-2016, 2018-2019, 2021, 2023-2024).

Despite being a great athlete and gaining such success and fame, Simone has faced many obstacles. In 2018, Biles disclosed that she was one of the survivors of sexual abuse by her former USA gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nassar. Her courage to speak up about a sensitive topic has helped with greater protection within the sport.

With the Tokyo 2020 Olympics around the corner, fans were highly anticipating Biles’ return. However, during the Games, Biles withdrew from several events due to her mental health. This year, Biles will be seen competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics. A few events that Biles can be seen at are:

• Women’s Qualifications: July 28^th, 2024
• Women’s Team Final: July 30^th, 2024
• Women’s All-Around Final: August 1^st, 2024
• Events Finals Day 1 (Women’s Vault): August 3^rd, 2024
• Events Finals Day 2 (Women’s Uneven Bars): August 4^th, 2024