At the 2024 Olympics July 30, Simone Biles and Team USA took home gold, making Biles the most decorated American gymnast in the history of the Games.
Simone Biles is already taking Paris by storm.
After she and her teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera took home the gold in the women’s gymnastics team final event July 30 at the 2024 Olympics, Biles earned her eighth medal, making her officially the most decorated American gymnast in the history of the Games.
The win comes three years after the 27-year-old withdrew from several events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health. And now, she’s back for what she’s calling her “redemption tour.”
“I feel like we all have more to give,” she told reporters in late June right after learning she’d be participating alongside her team in the 2024 Paris Olympics, “We weren’t under the best circumstances, but I feel like we have a lot of weight on our shoulders to go out there and prove that we’re better athletes. We’re more mature, we’re smarter, we’re more consistent.”
It’s that same determination that’s guided Simone ever since she officially hit the balance beam competitively in 2011 and struck gold, both literally and with fans everywhere.
And though she’s continuously managed to raise the bar with her accomplishments (which include seven Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals), Simone is always striving to outdo herself.
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“I know we’re stronger than what we showed in Tokyo,” she continued. “So, I think it has to be for us because it can’t be for anybody else, ‘cause that’s not why we do it. We do it for ourselves and the love for the sport and the love for representing the U.S. So, we’re going to go out there and we’re going to do our best.”
But before you flip over seeing Simone in action competing in the individual finals, take a look at every moment she proved to be one of the best athletes of all time.
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Going for the Gold
Simone Biles first stunned the world during her participation in the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Belgium.
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Movin’ On Up
Believe or not, the young athlete has four (!) gymnastic moves named after her.
Among them is the double layout with a half twist, which the sports star debuted in her floor routine during the podium training for the 2013 U.S. Classic. Eight years after London Phillips completed it domestically in 2005, Biles was able to successfully nail the skill at the 2013 World Championships, earning the tribute.
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Triple Title Holder
Biles once again proved she was a force to be reckoned with during the 2015 U.S. National Championships by securing her third all-around national title, becoming only the second woman ever to do so, 23 years after athlete Kim Zmeska.
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Making Her-story Again
Also in 2015, during the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Biles ended her performance with an impressive final score of 60.399.
With that victory, she became the first woman to win three consecutive all-around titles in World Gymnastics Championships history, bringing her total gold medal count to 10 at the time—also the most for any woman in World Championships history.
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Shutting Down Beauty Standards
Biles has never been afraid to address her haters or anyone who has had something to say about her body image.
In 2016, the gymnast first took to Twitter to express that she is “comfortable in her own skin.” And in 2020, the athlete again reinforced self-love by releasing a statement declaring that she is “done competing with beauty standards and toxic culture of trolling…because nobody should tell you or I what beauty should or should not look like.” Yeah, she stuck that landing.
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Pushing Through The Pain
Biles is also the first female gymnast since Daniela Silivaș in 1988 to win a medal on every event at a single Olympic Games or World Championships, having accomplished this feat during the 2018 World Championships in Doha.
Biles helped Team USA secure the number one spot less than 24 hours after going to the hospital due to pain from a kidney stone. The star even took to Twitter at the time to say that the “stone could wait.”
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Watch Her Move
Another win stemming from the 2018 World Championships: Biles debuted her now-namesake vault, a roundoff, back handspring with half turn entry, front stretched somersault with two twists (yes, it’s as astounding as it sounds) at the selection camp.
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…And Move Some More
Biles followed up her jaw-dropping 2018 move with an impressive balance beam skill.
She first started training the double-twisting double-tucked salto backwards dismount off of the beam in 2013, but debuted the stunner at the 2019 World Championships where it was given the rating H, the highest rating of any skill performed on the balance beam. Biles expressed disappointment at the skill being undervalued, but despite the rating controversy, she successfully performed it during qualifications and the Biles dismount was born.
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Defying All Odds
Thanks to her outstanding performance during the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, Biles once again broke records by surpassing gymnast Vitaly Scherbo‘s record 23 World medals by winning her 24th and 25th medals (both gold, of course).
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A Woman Focused on Helping Other Women
In April 2021, Biles confirmed that she would be ending her partnership with Nike to begin one with the brand, Athleta.
“I felt like it wasn’t just about my achievements, it’s what I stood for and how they were going to help me use my voice and also be a voice for females and kids,” she explained to the Wall Street Journal of the move. “I feel like they also support me, not just as an athlete, but just as an individual outside of the gym and the change that I want to create, which is so refreshing.”
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The Legacy Continues
In May 2021, the athlete became the first woman to land the Yurchenko double pike on the vault during her first competition in over a year. The new vault was given a preliminary value of 6.6, making it the highest valued vault in women’s gymnastics.
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Seventh’s Heaven
On June 6, 2021, Biles made history again by becoming the first woman to win a record seventh U.S. senior women’s all-around title.
“It’s really emotional, especially going into my second time doing an Olympic run,” Simone said after her victory. “It’s really crazy, and I appreciate everyone that’s come out to watch and support us, especially after the year we’ve had.”
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Representing Herself As The GOAT She Is…Literally
In June 2021, Biles had fans buzzing all over the social media once she debuted a new leotard bedazzled with the image of a goat.
“The idea was to hit back at the haters,” she told Marie Claire. “[The haters] were joking like, ‘I swear, if she put a goat on her leo, blah, blah, blah.’ That would make them so angry. And then I was like, ‘Oh, that’s actually a good idea. Let’s make the haters hate it, and the fans love it.'”
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Presidential Medal of Freedom
Biles was one of 17 people who received the nation’s highest civilian honor in 2022.
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Breaking Barriers in History
In 2023, a decade after she won her first world title at age 16, the athlete won her 27th world gold medal at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, breaking the record for world medals and Olympic medals (7) combined with a total of 34.
