“She had the best floor routine of the day and in the Olympics,” Biles said of Andrade’s performance at the finals event.
Simone Biles explained the meaning behind her and her teammate Jordan Chiles’ bow to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade as she was awarded the gold medal in the women’s floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Aug. 5.
“I think it’s all about sportsmanship, and we don’t care whether we win or lose. We’re always going to keep a good face and support our competitors because they’ve worked just as hard as we have for that moment,” Biles said on TODAY Aug. 6.
“So you have to give them their flowers,” she continued. “And that’s exactly what me and Jordan were doing, and we were so happy for her. She deserved it. She had the best floor routine of the day and in the Olympics. So it’s like, yeah, she deserved it.”
After the bow, Andrade reached for their hands. The iconic moment immediately went viral on social media, as fans commended the sweet moment of sportsmanship and sisterhood.
Biles won the silver medal with her floor routine, and Chiles scooped up the bronze. After submitting an inquiry into Chiles’ score, the judges gave her a new score that sent her onto the podium.
When the results came in, Biles was right there next to Chiles celebrating her win.
“She’s worked so hard for that moment. We really put those routines in, in training … no matter what pressure we’re under, they tried to make us hit as many routines as possible — like well done,” she said.
“And so just to see how excited Jordan was, and I knew that meant the world to her,” she continued. “I was so happy for her because it’s been a long run and we’ve done this for so long together and competing again on an Olympic stage is crazy.”
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Biles added she shared a special moment with Chiles once the competition had ended and the pair were back in the Olympic Village together.
“Yesterday, once we got back to the village, I looked at Jordan and I just started bawling my eyes out,” Biles said. “She was like, ‘I knew it was gonna happen. I just didn’t know when!’ And I think it was just, I was so full of emotion and I finally released all of that.”
“I was so proud, happy, bittersweet that the journey is over. It’s so crazy, it happened so quick — my third Olympics,” she continued.
During warmups for the floor routine, Biles fell and then re-taped her calf before she performed her final floor routine. It appears that Biles has been dealing with a lower-leg injury since the beginning of the gymnastics competition in Paris.
She arrived on TODAY wearing a boot, which she said was just precautionary.
“We’re resting up as much as possible. We have tour in a couple of weeks, so I’m just gonna rest and heal,” Biles said.
As for what is next for Biles, the 27-year-old didn’t rule out competing in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“You know, you never say never,” she said. “The next Olympics is on home turf, so you just never know.”
Biles concluded: “I’m just gonna relax and see where life takes me.”
The Olympian also shared that she and her husband Jonathan Owens want to become parents in the future.
“Me and Jonathan always talk about kids, and he would have had them like, yesterday, if he could have,” she said. “Obviously we both have goals that we want to achieve before we start a family. But yes, that’s definitely in our future.”
