Simone Biles
Simone Biles is an acclaimed American gymnast and Olympian, recognized as one of the greatest athletes in the history of the sport. Born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio, Biles faced numerous challenges in her early life, including family struggles and time spent in foster care before being adopted by her grandparents. She discovered her passion for gymnastics at a young age and quickly demonstrated remarkable talent, training under coach Aimee Boorman.
Biles achieved groundbreaking success at various competitions, including the World Championships and the Olympics, where she became a household name after her stellar performances at the 2016 Rio Games. With a record of 25 World Championship medals and numerous Olympic accolades, Biles has set numerous benchmarks in gymnastics, including being the first female gymnast to perform several highly complex maneuvers.
Beyond her athletic prowess, Biles has used her platform to advocate for mental health awareness, particularly during the 2020 Olympics when she prioritized her mental well-being over competition. This openness has sparked vital conversations about mental health in sports. Biles also has made significant strides in addressing issues surrounding sexual abuse within gymnastics. Married to NFL player Jonathan Owens in 2023, her personal and professional journey continues to inspire many.
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Simone Biles
Simone Biles is an American gymnast and Olympian. She is widely considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. She set numerous national and international gymnastics records in the 2010s and 2020s, becoming the most-decorated competitor in the history of the sport with her successes at the World Championships and the Olympic Games. Biles also became known for using her celebrity status as an advocate on social issues such as mental health.
Background
Simone Biles was born in Columbus, Ohio, on March 14, 1997. She lived with her mother, Shanon Biles, and three siblings. Biles’s mother struggled with substance abuse, and the family had very little money. When it was clear that Biles’s mother could not properly care for her children, they were removed from the home and placed into foster care. When Biles was three, her maternal grandfather, Ronald Biles, and his wife, Nellie, adopted Biles and her younger sister, Adria. (Her two older biological siblings, Ashley and Tevin, were adopted by a great-aunt.)
Biles moved into a suburb near Houston, Texas, where she lived with Ronald and Nellie, whom she called Dad and Mom. She also became close with her adoptive older brothers, Ronald Jr. and Adam. The schools in the affluent area had only a few Black students, but Biles’s family encouraged her and Adria to be proud of their identity.
When she was six years old, Biles became interested in gymnastics after a field trip to a gym where she saw gymnasts practicing. She seemed to have a natural affinity for the sport and began mimicking the moves she saw the gymnasts make. Coaches at the gym noticed, and suggested to her parents that she take lessons to help her pursue the sport.
Life’s Work
Biles soon began training at the same facility where she first saw gymnasts practicing. It quickly became clear that she was a very talented athlete with a great deal of potential. She came under the wing of Aimee Boorman, who would serve as Biles’s coach for more than ten years. She helped guide Biles as she became an elite athlete. Just one year after touring the gymnastics facility, Biles impressed Boorman and others by completing a back tuck on the balance beam.
Biles competed at her first junior national competition in 2011. At that event, the American Classic, she placed first in the vault and balance beam events. She also placed third in the all-around competition. Biles continued to perform well as she competed in junior national competitions over the next two years.
Moving to the senior level, Biles won her first US National Gymnastics Championships all-around title in 2013. She earned four individual silver medals at that tournament as well. She then competed in her first World Championships that same year, winning gold medals for all-around and floor exercise, silver in vault, and bronze in balance beam. This strong performance brought her much attention as a rising star in international elite gymnastics.
Biles repeated as US national all-around champion and individual all-around world champion in both 2014 and 2015, solidifying her reputation as a major talent. She also led the US women to gold medals in the team event at the World Championships both years; took individual golds in beam and floor and a silver medal in vault in 2014; and added individual golds in beam and floor and a bronze in vault in 2015. She was the first female gymnast to win three straight all-around world titles, the first female gymnast to win ten total gold World Championship medals, and the first American gymnast (male or female) to earn fourteen total World Championship medals.
Biles won another US national all-around title in 2016, and subsequently made it onto the US women’s artistic gymnastics team for that year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The team, which also included Aly Raisman, Madison Kocian, Gabby Douglas, and Laurie Hernandez, was coached by Marta Karolyi, a famous Olympic coach, and nicknamed themselves the "Final Five." Biles was widely seen as a favorite entering the Olympics, and she delivered on those expectations. She was the only member of the US team to compete in each of the four disciplines within the team event, and her strong performances helped the US take the gold medal by a wide margin. She then also went on to win individual gold medals in the floor routine, the vault, and the all-around competition, as well as a bronze medal in the balance beam routine. Her high-profile Olympic success, unprecedented for an American gymnast, made her a superstar.
Biles stepped away from competition after the 2016 Olympics. She remained a popular celebrity, releasing the best-selling autobiography Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance (2016) with journalist Michelle Burford and appearing on the reality show Dancing with the Stars in 2017. She returned to gymnastics in 2018 and soon regained her dominance in the sport. Biles earned a record fifth US national all-around title that year. She then won four gold medals at the 2018 World Championships, in the team event as well as the individual all-around, vault, and floor exercise; she also took silver in the uneven bars and bronze in the balance beam. This made her the first US gymnast to medal in every event at one World Championships, gave her a record fourteen World Championship gold medals, and tied the women's record of twenty total World Championship medals.
Biles continued to make history in 2019. She won her sixth US national title, in the process becoming the first female competitor ever to complete a triple-twist double somersault (or "triple-double") in the floor exercise and the first gymnast of any gender to complete a double-twist double somersault ("double-double") balance beam dismount. At the 2019 World Championships, Biles claimed five gold medals, including another all-around title. She was hailed as the most-decorated gymnast of all time, with a record nineteen world gold medals and twenty-five total world medals.
After that accomplishment, Biles began training for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, which were supposed to be held in Tokyo, Japan. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Olympics to be rescheduled to 2021. Biles qualified and was again considered a frontrunner for numerous gold medals. However, after some shaky performances she withdrew from most of her events, citing anxiety that caused a case of the "yips" or "twisties," a condition in which athletes suddenly lose certain abilities. Biles’s willingness to prioritize her mental health made headlines around the world. She did compete in the balance beam routine, earning an individual bronze medal. The US women’s gymnastics team earned the silver medal in the competition.
After the 2020 Olympics, Biles took another hiatus from gymnastics. In recognition of both her record-setting athletic achievements and her advocacy on mental health and other social issues, in 2022 she was presented with the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. In early 2023 she announced her return to competition. She quickly regained her elite status, extending her own record with an eighth US national title that August. At the 2023 World Championships, she led the US women's team to a seventh straight gold medal. She also won individual golds in the all-around, balance beam, and floor events, and a silver medal in the vault. In 2024, Biles won yet another US national title and qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.
At the Paris Olympics, Biles continued to add to her legend. She first helped Team USA take the women's team gold medal. She then earned individual golds in the all-around and vault, and a silver medal in the floor event. Her eleven career total Olympic medals were the most by any US gymnast and third-most for any female gymnast.
Impact
Throughout her career, Biles earned widespread recognition as a generational talent. Her dominant performance at the 2016 Olympics made her a major celebrity, while her record-breaking feats at the 2019 World Championships ensured her place among the all-time greats of gymnastics. She did not stop there, however, but continued to add to her long list of victories and records into the 2020s. Indeed, many observers consider her the greatest of all time—a label often shortened to GOAT—in gymnastics and one of the most dominant athletes in any sport. Biles pioneered many innovative, highly difficult moves, several of which have been named after her. She inspired numerous younger athletes, and has been seen especially as a positive force in helping to break down barriers for other Black gymnasts around the world.
Alongside her athletic achievements, Biles became influential for her social activism, often driven by her own experiences. In 2018, for example, she helped raise attention to the sexual abuse scandal around USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, revealing that she was among those who had been abused and offering solidarity with other survivors. Furthermore, Biles’s openness about her struggles during the 2020 Olympics generated widespread attention and sparked high-profile conversations about sports and mental health. Many people, including other elite athletes, commented that Biles’s frankness about mental health was important and beneficial.
Personal Life
After dating for several years, Biles announced her engagement to Jonathan Owens in February 2022. They married in April 2023. Owens, a professional football player, had stints with several National Football League (NFL) teams.
Bibliography
Apstein, Stephanie. “Simone Biles GOAT Alone.” Sports Illustrated, vol. 132, no. 7, 2021, pp. 22–31. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=151276810&site=ehost-live.
Finan, Eileen. “Simone Biles: Courage Under Pressure.” People, vol. 96, no. 7, 2021, pp. 32–37. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=151751900&site=ehost-live.
Macur, Juliet. “Simone Biles and the Weight of Perfection.” The New York Times, 24 July 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/07/24/sports/olympics/simone-biles-gymnastics.html. Accessed 7 Feb. 2023.
Park, Alice, et al. “Simone Biles.” Time, vol. 198, no. 23/24, Dec. 2021, pp. 74–78. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=154157242&site=ehost-live.
Silva, Daniella. “‘We’re Human, Too’: Simone Biles Highlights Importance of Mental Health in Olympics Withdrawal.” NBC News, 27 July 2021, www.nbcnews.com/news/olympics/we-re-human-too-simone-biles-highlights-importance-mental-health-n1275224. Accessed 7 Feb. 2023.
"Simone Biles." Olympics, olympics.com/en/athletes/simone-biles. Accessed 5 Aug. 2024.
"Simone Biles." Team USA, United States Olympic Committee, www.teamusa.com/profiles/simone-biles. Accessed 5 Aug. 2024.
"Simone Biles." USA Gymnastics, members.usagym.org/pages/athletes/nationalTeamWomen.html?id=164887. Accessed 5 Aug. 2024.
Weisholtz, Drew. “Simone Biles Remembers Going Hungry as a Child Before Going into Foster Care.” Today, 30 June 2021, www.today.com/popculture/simone-biles-remembers-going-hungry-child-going-foster-care-t224169. Accessed 7 Feb. 2023.