Simone Biles Is Poised to Collect More Olympic Hardware at the 2024 Paris Games
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1997-present
Latest News: Simone Biles Eyes Third Olympic Appearance
Since returning to professional gymnastics in August 2023, Simone Biles has hinted at what she hopes will be her next achievement for months: to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 27-year-old recently reiterated that’s her goal during an April 2024 interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast. But first, the two-time Olympian is scheduled to compete at this year’s Core Hydration Classic on May 18. Biles is a six-time all-around winner at the Classic, including at last August’s competition.
The legendary gymnast could also compete at the 2024 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, beginning May 30, ahead of U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the sport at the end of June. If she makes the squad, Biles would become the first American gymnast since 2000 to have made three Olympic teams. Only Muriel Davis Grossfeld, Linda Metheny, and Dominique Dawes have previously achieved that feat. The Paris Games begin July 26.
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Who Is Simone Biles?
Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history, having won a record 37 Olympic and World Championship medals. The gymnastics prodigy was introduced to the sport at age 6 and began dominating at the junior elite level. Her career has only skyrocketed since 2013 when she won the U.S. and World Championships all-around titles in her first year at the senior elite level. Biles has now won six all-around World titles and eight all-around U.S. Championships titles; both are records in the sport. The two-time Olympian dazzled at the 2016 Rio Games, winning five medals, before medaling twice at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which she largely withdrew from for her mental health. After two years off from the sport, Biles returned to competition in August 2023. She is married to NFL player Jonathan Owens.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Simone Arianne Biles Owens
BORN: March 14, 1997
BIRTHPLACE: Columbus, Ohio
SPOUSE: Jonathan Owens (2023-present)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Pisces
HEIGHT: 4 ft. 8 in.
Early Life: Parents and Family
Simone Arianne Biles was born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio. Due to their mother’s struggle with substance abuse, Biles and her siblings—sisters Adria and Ashley and brother Tevin—entered foster care when Simone was 3 years old. Within a few years, her grandfather Ron and grandmother Nellie stepped in to raise Simone and Adria in Spring, Texas. Ron and Nellie eventually adopted the two girls, and Ashley and Tevin were adopted by their great aunt.
Biles discovered her athletic abilities at an early age. When she was 6 years old, she visited a gymnastics center on a field trip with her day care group. “While there I imitated the other gymnasts, and Coach Ronnie noticed,” Biles said. “The gym sent home a letter requesting that I join tumbling or gymnastics.” Very soon, Biles was on her way to developing those natural gifts.
Nellie has been a constant source of support through Biles’ rise in the world of competitive athletics; as the gymnast told CNN, “She encourages me and never lets me feel down about something for too long.”
In August 2019, Biles was stunned to learn that her brother, Tevin Biles-Thomas, had been arrested on triple homicide charges in connection with fatal shootings at New Year’s Eve party. “My heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families,” Biles tweeted. “There is nothing that I can say that will heal anyone’s pain, but I do want to express my sincere condolences to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy.” After an initial mistrial, an Ohio judge acquitted Tevin due to insufficient evidence and dismissed the charges against him in May 2021.
Gymnastics Career
Biles, who stands 4 feet 8 inches tall, began competing as a level 8 gymnast in 2007, and by 2011, she had cemented her standing at the junior elite level. That year, she took the top spot in the vault and balance beam events and finished third in the all-around at the American Classic. She followed with an impressive series of showings in 2012, winning the vault and the all-around events at the American Classic, the Alamo Classic, the Houston National Invitational, and the Secret U.S. Classic. Watching Team USA win gold in the women’s team all-around at the 2012 London Olympics propelled her to think beyond her original goal of collegiate gymnastics.
Biles soon emerged as a force to be reckoned with at the senior elite level, bursting into the spotlight as the all-around winner at the 2013 U.S. P&G Championships. Also that year, she delivered a historic showing at the World Championships by becoming the first Black woman to win gold in the all-around. As she explained to The Hollywood Reporter, the victory likely served as an example to other young gymnasts: “I think it inspires a lot of the little girls out there to go in the gym and train harder,” she said.
Biles continued to build on her successes in 2014, again taking the U.S. and World titles in the all-around competition. She also won gold in vault, floor exercise, balance beam, and all-around at the Secret U.S. Classic that same year. During her floor routines, Biles often executed what has become one of her signature moves: a double layout flip with a half-twist.
In 2015, Biles became the first woman to win her third consecutive World all-around title, giving her a record 10 gold medals at the international competition. Considered one of the country’s top Olympic hopefuls, she then resumed training for Rio 2016 at World Champions Centre, which is owned by her family, in Spring, Texas.
In July 2016, Biles wowed gymnastics fans with an impressive performance at the Olympic trials, winning the all-around title and first in floor exercise and vault. With that, the 19-year-old secured her spot on the 2016 Olympic team.
2016 Olympic Games
On August 9, 2016, Biles led the U.S. women’s gymnastics team to win the gold. She earned an impressive 15.933 in the vault, a 15.3 on balance beam, and 15.8 for a crowd-pleasing floor routine in which she performed the Biles, her signature move comprised of a double layout flip with a half twist. The powerhouse gymnast shared the victory with Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman, a team known as “The Final Five.”
Raisman explained the meaning behind the team nickname on the Today Show: “We’re the Final Five because this is [coach] Marta [Karolyi’s] last Olympics, and without her none, of this would have been possible... We wanted to do it for her just because she’s there with us every single day.” She added: “This is the last Olympics where there’s a five-girl team. The next Olympics is only going to be a four-person team.”
The Final Five became the third American women’s gymnastic team to win gold, following team victories in 1996 and 2012. Afterward, Biles tweeted “dreams DO come true” and a photo of the U.S. team on the medal podium.
Biles continued to dominate the Olympic solo competition. She won the women’s individual all-around gold medal with a final score of 62.198, cementing a 2.1 lead over Raisman’s silver medal performance. The historic margin of victory was larger than any gymnast from 1980 to 2012 combined. She also became the first woman in two decades to win back-to-back Olympic all-around and World titles.
Not done yet, Biles won gold again in vault with a score of 15.966 then a bronze medal in the balance beam with 14.733 points. During that event, she fought to maintain her balance in a rare stumble. “The rest of the routine was still pretty good,” the Olympian said, according to USA Today, “so I can’t be too disappointed in myself.” Her victorious run concluded in the floor exercise, where she took the gold in a brilliant 15.966-point performance that incorporated her eponymous signature move.
Earning five medals in all, Biles joined only three other gymnasts who have won four gold medals in a single Olympic Games: Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union in 1956, Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and Ecaterina Szabo of Romania in 1984.
Breaking Records at the U.S. Nationals and World Championships
After taking much of 2017 off, Biles returned to intensive training and resumed her place at the top of her sport. In August 2018, she swept all four events at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships to win the competition by a whopping 6.55 points and become the first woman to claim five national all-around titles.
Biles managed to outdo herself the following year by becoming the first gymnast to pull off a double-double dismount from the balance beam and the first woman to nail a triple-double in the floor exercise, making her sixth U.S. nationals win a mere formality.
Biles then claimed her fifth individual all-around gold at the World Championships in October 2019, pushing her total haul to a record-setting 25 World Championship medals.
On May 22, 2021, Biles made history as the first woman to successfully land the Yurchenko double pike move in competition at the GK US Classic in Indianapolis. The move, which is typically performed by male gymnasts, is a roundoff onto the springboard, followed by a back handspring onto the vault and ends with a piked double backflip for the landing. She has since landed the move at the 2023 U.S. Classic, the 2023 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, and the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The latter instance was the first time a female gymnast performed the skill at an international competition, and as a result, the move has been renamed the Biles.
2020 Olympic Games Withdrawal
It was no surprise when Biles earned a spot on her second Olympic squad in June 2021 ahead of the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics. But competing on the world stage this time around proved different. Unable to shake “the twisties,” when a gymnast dangerously loses awareness of their body midair, Biles shocked fans when she withdrew from the women’s team gymnastics final.
“I say put mental health first,” Biles said at a press conference after the team event. “Because if you don’t, then you’re not going to enjoy your sport, and you’re not going to succeed as much as you want to.”
Team USA ended up earning a silver medal after Biles’ exit. She also sat out the finals on vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise, as well as the individual all-around. The Olympic favorite did compete in the balance beam final, scoring 14.000, and earned a bronze medal.
“I literally felt like I was fighting my body and my body to do these tricks,” Biles said in an April 2024 interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “It’s just like your body, your brain opens up, [you] have no idea where you are.”
Her withdrawal from the Summer Games began an extended break from competition, during which she focused on her mental health and entered therapy.
2023 Return to Competition
Biles continued her break from the sport for two years, but in early August 2023, she returned to competition at the Core Hydration Classic, previously known as the U.S. Classic. She won the all-around title by an astonishing 5 points, in addition to the floor and beam titles. “I feel really good about where I am right now, mentally and physically,” Biles said afterward. “I still think there are some things to work on in my routines, but for the first meet back, I would say it went pretty well. I’m very shocked and surprised.”
Her dominant performance at the Classic qualified her for the U.S. Championships later in the month, where she became the first gymnast to win eight national all-around titles and, at 26, the oldest woman to win a championship. Biles broke her tie for most national championships with the late Alfred Jochim, who earned his seventh all-around title in 1933. As with the Classic, Biles also took home titles in beam and floor exercise.
In October, she joined Team USA at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, her first international competition in two years. The American women notched their seventh consecutive World title, and Biles individually scored additional gold medals in the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise. She also took silver in vault. With her new hardware, Biles became the most decorated gymnast in history.
Medals
Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history and has won 95 medals as of May 7, 2024. This includes:
Olympic medals: 7 (4 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
World Championships medals: 30 (23 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze)
U.S. Championships medals: 36 (28 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze)
U.S. Classic medals: 22 (20 gold, 2 bronze)
The gymnastic powerhouse has won six all-around World titles, more than any other female gymnast, and a record eight all-around titles at U.S. Championships. Over the years, Biles has also won two World Challenge Cup titles and many medals as a junior elite gymnast. She also has five tricks named after her: two in floor exercise, two in vault, and one in balance beam.
The gym isn’t the only place Biles has earned recognition. In July 2022, Joe Biden presented Biles with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Dancing with the Stars
In 2017, Biles joined the cast of the 24th season of Dancing with the Stars, on which she was paired with pro Sasha Farber. Despite impressing the judges with her moves, the Olympian was eliminated during the semifinals that May.
#MeToo: Larry Nassar Survivor
In January 2018, Biles revealed on Twitter that she was one of the many young women who had been molested by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, who had recently been sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges and 25 to 40 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct.
“Please believe me when I say it was a lot harder to first speak those words out loud than it is now to put them on paper” she wrote. “For too long I’ve asked myself, ‘Was I too naive? Was it my fault?’ I now know the answers to those questions. No. No, it was not my fault. No, I will not and should not carry the guilt that belongs to Larry Nassar, USAG, and others.”
Husband Jonathan Owens
Biles is married NFL football player Jonathan Owens. The couple got engaged in February 2022 after going public as a couple in August 2020. They were married in a civil ceremony on April 21, 2023, before having a destination wedding in Mexico less than a month later on May 6.
The couple has been partially long-distance as Simone lives and trains in the Houston area, and Jonathan pursues his football career. He played for the Green Bay Packers in Wisconsin at the start of their marriage before signing a two-year contract with the Chicago Bears in March 2024. They are building a home in Texas.
Quotes
If I won gold in 2016, I think it would change my life.
It’s amazing to be recognized for all of this success, [but] I’m not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. I’m the first Simone Biles.
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