1997-present
***Simone Biles News: U.S. Gymnast Completes Paris Olympics “Redemption Tour” With Four Medals
Simone Biles will leave the Paris Olympics with three gold medals and one silver, making her an 11-time Olympic medallist and the most decorated American gymnast in history.
After mostly withdrawing from the Tokyo Games in 2020, Simone Biles has recovered, referring to her performance in this year’s Summer Olympics as her “redemption tour.” The 27-year-old gymnast won gold in the individual and team all-arounds, as well as the vault, when she performed her iconic double pike. Despite stumbling on the balance beam turn and missing the podium, Biles finished the competition with a silver medal for her floor performance.
“Obviously, it wasn’t my best performance, but at the end of the day, whoever medaled, medaled, and that’s what’s so exciting, because you just never know, it’s gymnastics,” Simone Biles told reporters after her last show. “I’ve done much more than I could have imagined, not only in the Olympics, but throughout my career, so I can’t complain about my results. I didn’t expect to be back at an Olympic Games a few years ago, so participating and leaving away with four medals makes me quite happy of myself.”
While it was widely expected that Biles will retire after the Paris Olympics, she has not ruled out participating in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. After earning gold in the vault, Biles stated, “Never say never.”
Who Is Simone Biles?
Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history, having won a record 41 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 skyrocketed in 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 nine all-around U.S. Championships titles; both are records in the sport.
The three-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, Simone Biles returned to competition in August 2023 and earned four medals at 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She is married to NFL player Jonathan Owens.
Trivial Facts
FULL NAME: Simone Arianne Biles
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 March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio. Because their mother struggled with drug misuse, Simone Biles and her siblings—sisters Adria and Ashley, and brother Tevin—were placed in foster care when Simone was three years old. Within a few years, her grandpa Ron and grandmother Nellie took over raising Simone and Adria in Spring, Texas. Ron and Nellie later adopted the daughters, while Ashley and Tevin were adopted by their great aunt.
Biles realised her athletic potential at a young age. When she was six years old, she went on a field trip with her nursery group to a gymnastics centre. “While there I imitated the other gymnasts, and Coach Ronnie noticed,” Biles recalled. “The gym sent home a letter requesting that I join tumbling or gymnastics.” Biles was quickly honing her inherent abilities.
Nellie has been a steady source of encouragement for Biles as she has risen through the ranks of elite sports; the gymnast told CNN, “She encourages me and never lets me feel down about something for too long.”
In August 2019, Biles was shocked to find that her brother, Tevin Biles-Thomas, had been arrested on triple murder charges in connection with deadly gunshots at a New Year’s Eve party. “My heart aches for everyone involved, especially for the victims and their families,” Biles said. “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.” Following an earlier mistrial, an Ohio court acquitted Tevin due to inadequate evidence and dropped the charges against him in May 2021.
Gymnastics Career
Simone Biles, who is 4 feet 8 inches tall, started competing as a level 8 gymnast in 2007, and by 2011, she had secured her place in the junior elite level. That year, she won the vault and balancing beam events and placed third in the all-around at the American Classic. In 2012, she had a spectacular string of performances, winning the vault and all-around competitions 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 inspired her to go beyond her initial aim of college gymnastics.
Biles quickly rose to prominence at the senior elite level, winning the all-around title at the 2013 U.S. P&G Championships. Also same year, she made history in the World Championships by becoming the first Black woman to win gold in the all-around. As she told The Hollywood Reporter, the triumph likely served as an example for 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 built on her success in 2014, winning both the U.S. and World championships in the all-around competition. She also won gold medals in vault, floor exercise, balancing beam, and all-around at the Secret U.S. Classic that year. During her floor performances, Biles often performed what has become one of her hallmark moves: a double layout flip with a half twist.
In 2015, Biles became the first woman to win her third straight World all-around championship, giving her a total of ten gold medals in international competition. Considered one of the country’s top Olympic prospects, she continued training for Rio 2016 at her family-owned World Champions Centre in Spring, Texas.
Biles stunned gymnastics fans in July 2016 with an outstanding performance at the Olympic trials, when she won the all-around championship and finished first in floor exercise and vault. With that, the 19-year-old had clinched her position on the 2016 Olympic squad.
***2016 Olympic Games
On August 9, 2016, Biles led the United States women’s gymnastics team to gold. She received an outstanding 15.933 on the vault, a 15.3 on balancing beam, and a 15.8 for a crowd-pleasing floor routine in which she completed the Biles, her trademark move, which consisted of a double layout flip with a half twist. The strong gymnast won with Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman, dubbed “The Final Five.”
Raisman explained the origin of the team moniker on the Today Show: “We’re the last Five because this is [coach] Marta [Karolyi’s] last Olympics, and none of this would have been possible without her… We wanted to do it for her simply because she is with us every day. She continued, “This is the last Olympics with a five-girl squad. “The next Olympics will only feature a four-person team.”
The Final Five were the third American women’s gymnastics team to win gold, after their successes in 1996 and 2012. Biles then tweeted “dreams DO come true” with a shot of the US team on the gold podium.
Biles continued to lead the Olympic solo competition. She won the women’s individual all-around gold medal with a final score of 62.198, giving her a 2.1 advantage over Raisman’s silver medal performance. The unprecedented margin of victory exceeded that of any gymnast from 1980 to 2012. She was also the first woman in two decades to win both the Olympic all-around and World championships.
Biles went on to win gold in vault with a score of 15.966, followed by bronze in balancing beam with 14.733 points. During the occasion, she struggled to keep her balance in a rare misstep. “The rest of the routine was still pretty good,” the Olympian told USA Today, “so I can’t be too disappointed with myself.” Her successful run culminated in the floor exercise, when she won gold with a magnificent 15.966-point performance that included her namesake trademark technique.
Biles, who won five medals in total, joined just 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 spending most of 2017 off, Simone Biles returned to hard training and reclaimed her position at the top of her sport. In August 2018, she won all four events at the United States Gymnastics Championships, winning by a massive 6.55 points and became the first woman to win five national all-around championships.
Biles outdid herself the following year, becoming the first gymnast to do a double-double dismount off the balancing beam and the first woman to complete a triple-double on the floor exercise, making her sixth U.S. nationals victory a formality.
Biles subsequently won her fifth individual all-around gold at the World Championships in October 2019, bringing her total to a record-breaking 25 World Championship medals.
At the GK US Classic in Indianapolis on May 22, 2021, Biles became the first woman to successfully land the Yurchenko double pike technique. The move, which is primarily executed by male gymnasts, consists of a roundoff onto the springboard, a back handspring onto the vault, and a piked double backflip to land. She has subsequently performed the feat at the 2023 U.S. Classic, U.S. Gymnastics Championships, and World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. The latter was the first time a female gymnast completed the technique in an international competition, therefore the move was called the Biles.
***2020 Olympic Games Withdrawal
Biles’ selection to her second Olympic team in June 2021, ahead of the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, came as no surprise. However, competing on the international stage this time proved to be a different experience. Simone Biles surprised fans by withdrawing from the women’s team gymnastics final, citing “the twisties,” a condition in which a gymnast loses consciousness of their body in midair.
“I say put mental health first,” Biles stated during a news 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.”
Following Biles’ departure, Team USA earned a silver medal. She also missed the finals for vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise, as well as the individual all-around. The Olympic favourite did participate in the balance beam final, scoring 14.000 and winning a bronze medal.
Suni Lee, Biles’ American partner, went on to win the individual all-around championship.
“I literally felt like I was fighting my body and my body to do these tricks,” Biles said in an April 2024 interview with 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 marked the start of a lengthy absence from competition, during which she concentrated on her mental health and went to treatment.
***2023 Return to Competition
Simone Biles participates in the uneven bars in the 2023 Core Hydration Classic, which is her first competition since 2021.
Biles had a two-year vacation from the sport before returning to compete in early August 2023 at the Core Hydration Classic, formerly known as the U.S. Classic. She won the all-around championship by an incredible 5 points, as well as the floor and beam crowns. “I feel really good about where I am right now, both mentally and physically,” Biles said afterwards. “I still believe there are certain things I need to improve on in my routines, but I’d say the first match back went well. “I’m very shocked and surprised.”
Her overwhelming performance at the Classic qualified her for the United States Championships later that month, when she became the first gymnast to win eight national all-around championships and, at 26, the oldest woman to do it. Biles broke the tie for the most national titles with the late Alfred Jochim, who won his seventh all-around title in 1933. Biles won championships in beam and floor exercise, just as she did in the Classic.
In October, she competed for Team USA in the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, her first international event in two years. The American women won their eighth straight World championship, with Biles winning gold medals in the all-around, balancing beam, and floor exercise. She also snatched silver from the vault. Biles’ latest hardware made her the most decorated gymnast in history.
***2024 Olympics
Biles won all-around victories at the Core Hydration Classic and the U.S. Championships in the first half of 2024, raising her all-time victory total at the latter to nine. On June 30, she also won the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, securing her spot on Team USA for the Paris Games. Simone Biles is the first American gymnast since 2000 to make three Olympic teams. Only Muriel Davis Grossfeld, Linda Metheny, and Dominique Dawes had previously accomplished this accomplishment.
When the 2024 Olympics began in late July, Simone Biles started well, scoring the highest in vault and floor exercise during qualification for the team all-around, giving the United States the top seed in the final. She finished the competition with a floor exercise score of 14.666, earning Team USA’s fourth gold medal in history.
Two days later, Biles dominated the balancing beam and floor exercise to win her second individual all-around championship, defeating Rebecca Andrade of Brazil and American teammate Suni Lee. Her gold run continued in the vault final, as she nailed her iconic double pike manoeuvre to reach the top of the podium once again.
The last days of the gymnastics competition in Paris were more difficult for Biles. She cheered for Lee during the uneven bars event, despite missing out on a competitive berth by 0.168 points. Biles fell off the balance beam halfway through her program and finished fifth, which was unusual. She began her last event, floor exercise, with the most challenging start value, making her a clear favourite. However, throughout her routine, she landed out of bounds twice, resulting in a total loss of 0.6 points. Due to the expensive error, Rebeca Andrade of Brazil won gold, while Biles received silver.
Biles recognised her accomplishments and mistakes during the meet: “Obviously, it wasn’t my best performance, but at the end of the day, whoever medaled, medaled…” I didn’t expect to be back at an Olympic Games a few years ago, so participating and leaving away with four medals makes me quite happy of myself.”
Awards
Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history and has won 106 medals as of August 7, 2024. This includes:
- Olympic medals: 11 (7 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
- World Championships medals: 30 (23 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze)
- U.S. Championships medals: 41 (33 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze)
- U.S. Classic medals: 26 (22 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze)
The gymnastic powerhouse has won six all-around World championships, more than any other female gymnast, as well as a record nine all-around titles in the United States Championships. Simone Biles has won two World Challenge Cup championships and several medals as a junior elite gymnast. She has five tricks named after her, including two in floor exercise, two in vault, and one in balancing beam.
Simone Biles has achieved attention outside of the gym as well. In July 2022, Joe Biden awarded Simone Biles the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
TV: Dancing with the Stars and Netflix Docuseries
Simone Biles joined the roster of Dancing with the Stars for the 24th season in 2017, when she was partnered with professional Sasha Farber. Despite dazzling the judges with her movements, the Olympian was ousted during the semi-finals in May.
The gymnast is the topic of Simone Biles Rising, a four-part docuseries that premieres on Netflix on July 17, 2024. The project follows Biles as she “balances her personal life, mental health journey, and training” as she works towards qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
MeToo: Larry Nassar Survivor
Biles stated on Twitter in January 2018 that she was one of many young women assaulted by Larry Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics team doctor who had just been sentenced to 60 years in prison for child pornography and 25 to 40 years in jail 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” that she wrote. “For too long, I’ve wondered whether I was too naïve. Was this my fault? I now understand the answers to those questions. No. No, it was not my fault. No, I will not and should not bear the blame that belongs to Larry Nassar, USAG, and others.
Relationship
Simone Biles is married to NFL football player Jonathan Owens. After making their relationship public in August 2020, the pair got engaged in February 2022. They married in a civil ceremony on April 21, 2023, and then had a destination wedding in Mexico less than a month later on May 6.
The pair has spent some time apart since Simone lives and trains in the Houston region, while Jonathan pursues his football career. He began his marriage playing for the Green Bay Packers in Wisconsin until accepting a two-year deal with the Chicago Bears in March of 2024. They are constructing a house in Texas.
Net Worth
Biles’ total fortune is estimated to be around $25 million as of August 2024, according to Celebrity Net Worth. This is largely because of the valuable endorsement deals she received following the 2016 Olympics, including with companies such as United Airlines, The Hershey Company, and Oreo.
According to Sportico, @simonebiles was the ninth-highest earning female athlete of 2023 with $8.5 million—nearly all as a result of sponsorships and speaking engagements.
