Simone Biles Makes Public Plea Amid Gold Wins at Olympics

Simone Biles from Team USA competes in the women’s gymnastics at the Bercy Arena during the Paris Summer Olympics on July 28, 2024. Credit – Aytac Unal—Getty Images

Simone Biles posted on X (formerly Twitter) with a plea for people to stop asking one particular question from athletes who are in the thrills of a medal win.

In a post shared with her 1.9 million followers, Biles, 27, wrote: “You guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics,” She then followed up the initial post with an addendum, adding context to her request. “Let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for,” she said.

So far at the Paris Summer Olympics, the Team USA gymnast has won three gold medals, adding to her tally of now 10 medals—seven golds, two bronze, and one silver. With the Paris Games not yet complete, Biles has already begun fielding questions about whether she will compete in Los Angeles in 2028.

At a press conference on Saturday, Biles was asked if this was “the last time we’re going to see [her] vault in competition.” In response, she said that it will be her last Yurchenko double pike—the vault that won her gold—but as for the competition in general: “Never say never.”

“The next Olympics is at home [L.A.], so you just never know. But, I am getting really old,” Biles said, laughing.

Biles’ social media plea comes just days after gold-medal winning U.S. swimmer Simone Manuel asked for a change in coverage—arguing on X that it’s “not necessary” to have interviews and photography of athletes after disappointing performances.

“I can attest to the fact that the moment is already traumatic and the capture of it is even more grueling,” Manuel wrote. “I hope we can give athletes more grace because they’re human first!”